Sri Lanka unlocks the camps, but not for long

I wish, I really wish, that I had only good news to report today. Today was the day the Sri Lankan government promised that the displaced civilians who’d been held in military-run camps for the last 6 months would be free to leave the camps “sans any conditions being imposed.” But it hasn’t worked out that way. The civilians were told today they could leave but they also have to return to the camps soon.

As the war ended in May this year with the Sri Lankan government’s defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, about 280,000 civilians displaced by the fighting were placed in overcrowded, military-run camps which they weren’t allowed to leave. The government said that the civilians first had to be screened to determine whether there were any Tiger fighters among them. Amnesty International pointed out that this violated the civilians’ freedom of movement and constituted arbitrary detention. Amnesty launched its “Unlock the Camps” campaign to get the Sri Lankan government to allow the civilians to leave the camps if they wish to do so.

Since the end of the war, the government has released civilians from the camps, but according to the U.N., around 136,000 were still being held as of Nov. 25.

On Nov. 21, the Sri Lankan government announced that, as of Dec. 1, the civilians would at last be free to come and go from the camps. Yesterday, a government minister said there would be no restrictions imposed on the duration of the civilians’ absence from the camps.

Today, 100,000 civilians, according to government officials, left the camps. But the BBC reported that the civilians were told by officials that they had permission to stay away from the camps for only up to 15 days and that anyone trying to leave permanently would be “tracked down.” In an interview with the BBC, the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister did not deny the existence of the 15-day restriction. The U.N. is reported today as saying that the civilians had been given 10 days to return to the camps if they left today. One civilian said today she’d been given permission to leave the camp for a week but would lose state aid if she didn’t return.

Amnesty is calling on the Sri Lankan government to permanently release the civilians from the camps immediately. If the civilians want to remain in the camps pending a final decision on where they’ll live, they should be free to do so. But if they do have other safe areas in which to stay, it should be their choice, not the government’s, where they live. Sadly, we still need to say to the government, “Unlock the camps now!” I really, really hope the time will come soon when that’s no longer needed.

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237 thoughts on “Sri Lanka unlocks the camps, but not for long”

Sri lanka partially unlock the camps targetting jan 26, 2009 presidental election & international pressure. Remaining IDPs in the camps may not find any relative or any other place to go, they must be released to go their homes.
Over 30,000 children still in the camps. These camps are not their home to come back every 2 weeks or less.

I don't think it's that simple. These are words of people who haven't even seen Jaffna. Is Iraq free? is Afghanistan free? Why don't you talk about those places. Places where normal citizens die every day because of UN forces. Are you deaf? Are you Blind? Or how much money do you get to write this article?

Sri lanka partially unlock the camps targetting jan 26, 2009 presidental election & international pressure. Remaining IDPs in the camps may not find any relative or any other place to go, they must be released to go their homes.
Over 30,000 children still in the camps. These camps are not their home to come back every 2 weeks or less.

I don’t think it’s that simple. These are words of people who haven’t even seen Jaffna. Is Iraq free? is Afghanistan free? Why don’t you talk about those places. Places where normal citizens die every day because of UN forces. Are you deaf? Are you Blind? Or how much money do you get to write this article?

In response to Dhanushka's comment above, I'd suggest that those interested visit the Afghanistan and Iraq country pages on the AIUSA website (www.amnestyusa.org) to see what AI has been saying about human rights violations in those countries.

In response to Dhanushka's comment above, I'd suggest that those interested visit the Afghanistan and Iraq country pages on the AIUSA website (www.amnestyusa.org) to see what AI has been saying about human rights violations in those countries.

In response to Dhanushka's comment above, I'd suggest that those interested visit the Afghanistan and Iraq country pages on the AIUSA website (www.amnestyusa.org) to see what AI has been saying about human rights violations in those countries.

Dhanushka must not be paying attention to what Amnesty International does around the world. Are the Tamils not as important as Iraquis? Is there a pecking order I don't know about? Come on, man, it's a big world out there full of human rights violations in every country including my own and, I'm sure, your own. And AI is involved in it all.

Just a quick comment to Jim, another source to check would be Tamilnet and the Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror to get a more accurate picture from both sides of this issue.
There are concerns over the release of previously released IDPs and the conditions that they will be resettled into. The areas where these people lived are either still under strict military control or have reverted back to jungle. Thus homes that the IDPs could have gone back to no longer are suitable for habitation.
This is a sad situation, but from my unusual perspective, there needed to be a way to go through the IDPs to find out who was LTTE. How this was done was probably not the best way concerning human rights, but Sri Lanka will be safer for national people and international visitors.
Remember the LTTE is a recognized terrorist organization by the United States, and the US has done similar actions regarding Al Qaeda, and other perceived threats. (I think Guantanamo is an example of this)

In response to Dhanushka’s comment above, I’d suggest that those interested visit the Afghanistan and Iraq country pages on the AIUSA website (www.amnestyusa.org) to see what AI has been saying about human rights violations in those countries.

Dhanushka must not be paying attention to what Amnesty International does around the world. Are the Tamils not as important as Iraquis? Is there a pecking order I don’t know about? Come on, man, it’s a big world out there full of human rights violations in every country including my own and, I’m sure, your own. And AI is involved in it all.

Just a quick comment to Jim, another source to check would be Tamilnet and the Sri Lankan newspaper Daily Mirror to get a more accurate picture from both sides of this issue.
There are concerns over the release of previously released IDPs and the conditions that they will be resettled into. The areas where these people lived are either still under strict military control or have reverted back to jungle. Thus homes that the IDPs could have gone back to no longer are suitable for habitation.
This is a sad situation, but from my unusual perspective, there needed to be a way to go through the IDPs to find out who was LTTE. How this was done was probably not the best way concerning human rights, but Sri Lanka will be safer for national people and international visitors.
Remember the LTTE is a recognized terrorist organization by the United States, and the US has done similar actions regarding Al Qaeda, and other perceived threats. (I think Guantanamo is an example of this)

Now there are chances of more "enforced disappearances" and incommunicado detentions.

Just thought of bringing to your attention of a blog post I just regarding incommunicado prisoners in Sri Lanka, particularly that of "KP".

Amnesty Int'l did highlight the plight of those in incommunicado but there has been no mention by AI of this particular "high profile" arrest nor the current situation of "coercions" being reported by D.B.S. Jeyaraj, A Sri Lankan journalist.http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/12/selvarasa_pat…

Now there are chances of more "enforced disappearances" and incommunicado detentions.

Just thought of bringing to your attention of a blog post I just regarding incommunicado prisoners in Sri Lanka, particularly that of "KP".

Amnesty Int'l did highlight the plight of those in incommunicado but there has been no mention by AI of this particular "high profile" arrest nor the current situation of "coercions" being reported by D.B.S. Jeyaraj, A Sri Lankan journalist.http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/12/selvarasa_pat…

Now there are chances of more "enforced disappearances" and incommunicado detentions.

Just thought of bringing to your attention of a blog post I just regarding incommunicado prisoners in Sri Lanka, particularly that of "KP".

Amnesty Int'l did highlight the plight of those in incommunicado but there has been no mention by AI of this particular "high profile" arrest nor the current situation of "coercions" being reported by D.B.S. Jeyaraj, A Sri Lankan journalist.http://transcurrents.com/tc/2009/12/selvarasa_pat…

disgusting racist jim mcmonald ( may he and his suffer what we suffered, which according to him was 'nothing' ) who equated tamils with terrorist murderers and has not apologized yet, is at it again preaching to us sri lankans .no shame !

this vile excuse for a human being and his employer the amnesty international did nothing to condemn tamil tiger terrorists or support our fight against ltte murderers . they opposed any effort to defeat them .

that is, not only did they NOT stand up for human rights, but they did not want us to protect our human rights .

it was ok for them that ltte kill and maim our children with impunity . it was ok for them that ltte deprive ppl's right to vote.

not a single word from the racists here , willing helpers of violators of human rights .

instead they attacked the sri lankan cricket team in 2007. btw same team was attacked by pakistani terrorists ( also protected by racists here ) in 2009
no apology for any of that either

and these animals now preach to us about our human rights ?
do they know the meaning of word hypocracy ?

they live to suck blood .
they sell and exploit real and alleged victims in developing world and raise funds so that they can live

-
will i be censored again by these false protectors of freedom of expression ?
it seems these brutes cannot stand the truth

Now there are chances of more “enforced disappearances” and incommunicado detentions.

Just thought of bringing to your attention of a blog post I just regarding incommunicado prisoners in Sri Lanka, particularly that of “KP”.

Amnesty Int’l did highlight the plight of those in incommunicado but there has been no mention by AI of this particular “high profile” arrest nor the current situation of “coercions” being reported by D.B.S. Jeyaraj, A Sri Lankan journalist.

disgusting racist jim mcmonald ( may he and his suffer what we suffered, which according to him was ‘nothing’ ) who equated tamils with terrorist murderers and has not apologized yet, is at it again preaching to us sri lankans .no shame !

this vile excuse for a human being and his employer the amnesty international did nothing to condemn tamil tiger terrorists or support our fight against ltte murderers . they opposed any effort to defeat them .

that is, not only did they NOT stand up for human rights, but they did not want us to protect our human rights .

it was ok for them that ltte kill and maim our children with impunity . it was ok for them that ltte deprive ppl’s right to vote.

not a single word from the racists here , willing helpers of violators of human rights .

instead they attacked the sri lankan cricket team in 2007. btw same team was attacked by pakistani terrorists ( also protected by racists here ) in 2009
no apology for any of that either

and these animals now preach to us about our human rights ?
do they know the meaning of word hypocracy ?

they live to suck blood .
they sell and exploit real and alleged victims in developing world and raise funds so that they can live

-
will i be censored again by these false protectors of freedom of expression ?
it seems these brutes cannot stand the truth

One thing Jim said troubles me — that he or AI isn't asking that the Tamil population be allowed to return to their villages at once.

And why not ??

Are we waiting for the Sinhalese regime to swiftly implant a racist Sinhalese settler population into Tamil land to change the demographic balance like in Palestine ?

It's been estimated by one observer a decade is enough for such a government program's realisation in Tamil country.

Did even the thousands of cluster bombs Israel carpetted their land with stop the Lebanese villagers from returning to their ancestral terrain immediately after the war's end ? Nor did their govenment try to stop them .

The excuses of demining & ferreting out the warriors from within the unarmed , defenceless & herded Tamil people have been spouted long enough, permitting this disgraceful Sinhalese apartheid system of captivity & dispossession to continue.

We can't let the Sinhalisation of indigenous ancestral Tamil country to continue .

The Tamils must be allowed to return to their homes & homeland at once.

T-nambi, a-savage… the Tamil racism again and again, Tamil nation, Tamil country… where the hell is it? The closest to that could be Tamil Nadu. Sri Lanka is and has been a multicultural country, where this so called Tamil only areas were created by the the blood thirsty LTTE by ethnic cleancing and genociding Sinalese and Muslims in the north and the east of the country.

T-nambi, a-savage… the Tamil racism again and again, Tamil nation, Tamil country… where the hell is it? The closest to that could be Tamil Nadu. Sri Lanka is and has been a multicultural country, where this so called Tamil only areas were created by the the blood thirsty LTTE by ethnic cleancing and genociding Sinalese and Muslims in the north and the east of the country.

T-nambi, a-savage… the Tamil racism again and again, Tamil nation, Tamil country… where the hell is it? The closest to that could be Tamil Nadu. Sri Lanka is and has been a multicultural country, where this so called Tamil only areas were created by the the blood thirsty LTTE by ethnic cleancing and genociding Sinalese and Muslims in the north and the east of the country.

a.savage, are you on drugs? you said 'Did even the thousands of cluster bombs Israel carpetted their land with stop the Lebanese villagers from returning to their ancestral terrain immediately after the war’s end ? '

Do you know that there is a huge difference in what Israel did, attacking a forign nation, to what the LTTE did controlled parts within a country and planted millions of landmines with no documentation on where they are. Do you know that even the deminers have got injured during the demine operations? And you shout at the govenment and even at Jim for saying innocent people should not be let there before the landmines were cleared.

You pathetic idiots who wtay in comfort in forign countries, who actually benifitted by the civil war in Sri Lanka to get asylam in wesetern countries don't care about anyone in Sri Lanka. You just need to have the hatred going and hopefully another civil war.

some of ther idps are already returning to the camps. they dont have a place to stay. and there are plenty of land mines plus they get free food in the camps. those who called these "concentration camps" are badly exposed. Tamil diaspora websites have gone silent on this issue. they never really cared for tamils in sri lanka, they never complained when praba used them as human shield. they jsut wanted their friends and family to migrate to rich country while sacrificing other tamils

One thing Jim said troubles me — that he or AI isn’t asking that the Tamil population be allowed to return to their villages at once.

And why not ??

Are we waiting for the Sinhalese regime to swiftly implant a racist Sinhalese settler population into Tamil land to change the demographic balance like in Palestine ?

It’s been estimated by one observer a decade is enough for such a government program’s realisation in Tamil country.

Did even the thousands of cluster bombs Israel carpetted their land with stop the Lebanese villagers from returning to their ancestral terrain immediately after the war’s end ? Nor did their govenment try to stop them .

The excuses of demining & ferreting out the warriors from within the unarmed , defenceless & herded Tamil people have been spouted long enough, permitting this disgraceful Sinhalese apartheid system of captivity & dispossession to continue.

We can’t let the Sinhalisation of indigenous ancestral Tamil country to continue .

The Tamils must be allowed to return to their homes & homeland at once.

It is true, many IDPs have no place to go because their home invarded by occupying forces. Budda has land in his mind to colonize the area. Last 6 month saying land mines, but people lived in those area, over 10,000 men & women behind the bars, sla has all the information.
vanni people never expect free food from any one but they ask let them go their home. Sri lanka making many using IDPs. In jaffna over 20 years IDPs not allowed to go their home, In sampoor, east IDPs are trasferred from camp to camp.
over 1.1 million Tamils escaped from state terror, now all over the world.

T-nambi, a-savage… the Tamil racism again and again, Tamil nation, Tamil country… where the hell is it? The closest to that could be Tamil Nadu. Sri Lanka is and has been a multicultural country, where this so called Tamil only areas were created by the the blood thirsty LTTE by ethnic cleancing and genociding Sinalese and Muslims in the north and the east of the country.

a.savage, are you on drugs? you said ‘Did even the thousands of cluster bombs Israel carpetted their land with stop the Lebanese villagers from returning to their ancestral terrain immediately after the war’s end ? ‘

Do you know that there is a huge difference in what Israel did, attacking a forign nation, to what the LTTE did controlled parts within a country and planted millions of landmines with no documentation on where they are. Do you know that even the deminers have got injured during the demine operations? And you shout at the govenment and even at Jim for saying innocent people should not be let there before the landmines were cleared.

You pathetic idiots who wtay in comfort in forign countries, who actually benifitted by the civil war in Sri Lanka to get asylam in wesetern countries don’t care about anyone in Sri Lanka. You just need to have the hatred going and hopefully another civil war.

some of ther idps are already returning to the camps. they dont have a place to stay. and there are plenty of land mines plus they get free food in the camps. those who called these “concentration camps” are badly exposed. Tamil diaspora websites have gone silent on this issue. they never really cared for tamils in sri lanka, they never complained when praba used them as human shield. they jsut wanted their friends and family to migrate to rich country while sacrificing other tamils

It is true, many IDPs have no place to go because their home invarded by occupying forces. Budda has land in his mind to colonize the area. Last 6 month saying land mines, but people lived in those area, over 10,000 men & women behind the bars, sla has all the information.
vanni people never expect free food from any one but they ask let them go their home. Sri lanka making many using IDPs. In jaffna over 20 years IDPs not allowed to go their home, In sampoor, east IDPs are trasferred from camp to camp.
over 1.1 million Tamils escaped from state terror, now all over the world.

In response to Dexter's comment above, I'll look into it and report back if we have anything to say. AI doesn't comment publicly on every case that we might have concerns about.

In response to sittingnut's comment above, I reject his allegations against me and AI, which are completely unfounded and without merit.

In response to a.savage's comment above, the IDPs do have to right to return home in safety and dignity, and the government should adopt a plan with clear benchmarks and definite deadlines so that the civilians are able to do so, if that's their desire, without risk from mines or other unexploded ordnance. But I do think it's reasonable to not allow people back into unsafe areas until they're cleared. I agree that that restriction shouldn't be used as an excuse to deny them their right to return to their homes indefinitely.

In response to Innocent Tiger's comment of Dec. 3, 10:36 P.M., I did watch the BBC video of the interview with Foreign Minister Bogollagama and read the transcript. The Foreign Minister didn't answer why there was any need for the 15-day restriction. As I've said elsewhere, I can understand that the government needs to keep track of where the IDPs are, so it can (among other things) inform them when it's safe to return to their homes. But I don't see why that means that the IDPs have to be required to live somewhere in particular – i.e., why should they be required to return to the camps, as long as they let the government know their new address? And if any IDPs decide not to return to their homes and tell the government so, why should they even be required to keep the government informed of where they're living?

In response to Dexter’s comment above, I’ll look into it and report back if we have anything to say. AI doesn’t comment publicly on every case that we might have concerns about.

In response to sittingnut’s comment above, I reject his allegations against me and AI, which are completely unfounded and without merit.

In response to a.savage’s comment above, the IDPs do have to right to return home in safety and dignity, and the government should adopt a plan with clear benchmarks and definite deadlines so that the civilians are able to do so, if that’s their desire, without risk from mines or other unexploded ordnance. But I do think it’s reasonable to not allow people back into unsafe areas until they’re cleared. I agree that that restriction shouldn’t be used as an excuse to deny them their right to return to their homes indefinitely.

In response to Innocent Tiger’s comment of Dec. 3, 10:36 P.M., I did watch the BBC video of the interview with Foreign Minister Bogollagama and read the transcript. The Foreign Minister didn’t answer why there was any need for the 15-day restriction. As I’ve said elsewhere, I can understand that the government needs to keep track of where the IDPs are, so it can (among other things) inform them when it’s safe to return to their homes. But I don’t see why that means that the IDPs have to be required to live somewhere in particular – i.e., why should they be required to return to the camps, as long as they let the government know their new address? And if any IDPs decide not to return to their homes and tell the government so, why should they even be required to keep the government informed of where they’re living?

The pressure has helped to accelerate movement of people out of the Sri Lankan camps.

But people are still not really free to leave and, in practice, do not fully enjoy this most basic of human rights.

Some who have left are not able to return home.

There is clear evidence that Tamil cultural monuments are being destroyed.

And we are hearing credible stories of harassment and abuse – rickshaw boys who are told to buy goods for the Sri Lanka military without payment, the Tamil women who are now "voluntarily" providing sexual services to Sri Lankan soldiers, because it is the only way to ensure food and safety, and the elderly who are without adequate food.

Perhaps most at risk are the 12,000 alleged LTTE combatants still held in special camps to which the International Committee of the Red Cross has virtually no access.

The news black-out means none of this can be investigated.

But rather than be guided by what has happened in the past – and therefore what is very likely to be happening now – the world is being encouraged to think the troubles are over.

The pressure has helped to accelerate movement of people out of the Sri Lankan camps.

But people are still not really free to leave and, in practice, do not fully enjoy this most basic of human rights.

Some who have left are not able to return home.

There is clear evidence that Tamil cultural monuments are being destroyed.

And we are hearing credible stories of harassment and abuse – rickshaw boys who are told to buy goods for the Sri Lanka military without payment, the Tamil women who are now “voluntarily” providing sexual services to Sri Lankan soldiers, because it is the only way to ensure food and safety, and the elderly who are without adequate food.

Perhaps most at risk are the 12,000 alleged LTTE combatants still held in special camps to which the International Committee of the Red Cross has virtually no access.

The news black-out means none of this can be investigated.

But rather than be guided by what has happened in the past – and therefore what is very likely to be happening now – the world is being encouraged to think the troubles are over.

You may have heard that the Sri Lankan government said yesterday that the bulk of the released IDPs are in transit camps awaiting demining of their home villages (see http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL51171…. Are the transit camps open, so the civilians can leave if they wish?

You may have heard that the Sri Lankan government said yesterday that the bulk of the released IDPs are in transit camps awaiting demining of their home villages (see http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL51171…. Are the transit camps open, so the civilians can leave if they wish?

You may have heard that the Sri Lankan government said yesterday that the bulk of the released IDPs are in transit camps awaiting demining of their home villages (see http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL51171…. Are the transit camps open, so the civilians can leave if they wish?

You may have heard that the Sri Lankan government said yesterday that the bulk of the released IDPs are in transit camps awaiting demining of their home villages (see http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/COL511714.htm). Are the transit camps open, so the civilians can leave if they wish?

An article from UNHCR (see http://www.unhcr.org/4b1a26619.html) includes the following sentence: "While authorities say that there is no time limit to the freedom of movement, there were reports that IDPs would only be allowed to stay away from the camps for up to 10 days."

I hope the Sri Lankan government soon announces publicly that there is no time restriction on how long the IDPs can stay away from the camps.

An article from UNHCR (see http://www.unhcr.org/4b1a26619.html) includes the following sentence: "While authorities say that there is no time limit to the freedom of movement, there were reports that IDPs would only be allowed to stay away from the camps for up to 10 days."

I hope the Sri Lankan government soon announces publicly that there is no time restriction on how long the IDPs can stay away from the camps.

An article from UNHCR (see http://www.unhcr.org/4b1a26619.html) includes the following sentence: "While authorities say that there is no time limit to the freedom of movement, there were reports that IDPs would only be allowed to stay away from the camps for up to 10 days."

I hope the Sri Lankan government soon announces publicly that there is no time restriction on how long the IDPs can stay away from the camps.

An article from UNHCR (see http://www.unhcr.org/4b1a26619.html) includes the following sentence: “While authorities say that there is no time limit to the freedom of movement, there were reports that IDPs would only be allowed to stay away from the camps for up to 10 days.”

I hope the Sri Lankan government soon announces publicly that there is no time restriction on how long the IDPs can stay away from the camps.

Reporters and aid workers said they are still being barred from visiting Government internment camps housing thousands of Tamil refugees, days after Sri Lanka's Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama proclaimed on British television that the areas were "totally open."

Numerous media requests to visit camps in Vavuniyaa district and to witness the announced release of thousands of civilians had been rejected, reported Australia’s Daily Telegraph.

“The International Committee of the Red Cross said they had also been denied access to the camps and there had been no relaxation of the restrictions despite Bogollagama's announcement," the paper said.

The accusation comes days after Bogollagama told the BBC on his visit to London “that they [the media] can go tomorrow, you take my word. Absolutely there is no restriction that we impose on anyone, any journalist."

Bogollagama's statement has been publicly contradicted by the Sri Lanka Government, with Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe confirming that "restrictions on journalists to visit displaced people in camps have not been relaxed yet," whilst refusing to provide a concrete date as to when this would happen.

Reporters and aid workers said they are still being barred from visiting Government internment camps housing thousands of Tamil refugees, days after Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama proclaimed on British television that the areas were “totally open.”

Numerous media requests to visit camps in Vavuniyaa district and to witness the announced release of thousands of civilians had been rejected, reported Australia’s Daily Telegraph.

“The International Committee of the Red Cross said they had also been denied access to the camps and there had been no relaxation of the restrictions despite Bogollagama’s announcement,” the paper said.

The accusation comes days after Bogollagama told the BBC on his visit to London “that they [the media] can go tomorrow, you take my word. Absolutely there is no restriction that we impose on anyone, any journalist.”

Bogollagama’s statement has been publicly contradicted by the Sri Lanka Government, with Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe confirming that “restrictions on journalists to visit displaced people in camps have not been relaxed yet,” whilst refusing to provide a concrete date as to when this would happen.

According to a story in a Sri Lankan paper last Friday (http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/12/05/news01.asp), the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights said that there was no 15-day restriction on how long the IDPs could stay away from the camps. I hope we'll see over the next week or two that he's proved right.

According to a story in a Sri Lankan paper last Friday (http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/12/05/news01.asp), the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights said that there was no 15-day restriction on how long the IDPs could stay away from the camps. I hope we'll see over the next week or two that he's proved right.

According to a story in a Sri Lankan paper last Friday (http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/12/05/news01.asp), the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights said that there was no 15-day restriction on how long the IDPs could stay away from the camps. I hope we'll see over the next week or two that he's proved right.

According to a story in a Sri Lankan paper last Friday (http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/12/05/news01.asp), the Minister of Disaster Management and Human Rights said that there was no 15-day restriction on how long the IDPs could stay away from the camps. I hope we’ll see over the next week or two that he’s proved right.

The Sinhalese seem to be hopelessly mixed up with their "assertions" which are figments of theit own imaginations not borne out even by the Mahavamsa fable said to date from 4th century AD written by Mahanama, which inter alia, refers to the presence of the 'Nagas' (cobra worshipping Tamils) and the 'Yakkas' (the Veddahs)at the time Vijaya and his men landed adrift in Thambapani after being banished by his father from India.

To assert, as The Sinhalese have chosen to do, is not only to display ignorance of the highest degree but also patent racism which is at the core of the dissimilarity in Sri Lanka.

The institutionalised state-sponsored colonisation schemes and regularisation of large scale encroachments on the Tamils Homelands accompanied by regularisation by mainly Sinhala people in the north and east in order to change the ethnic ratios after independence is well known.

The ethnic cleansing pogroms in Muttur and Sampur followed by recent events in the east also demonstrates the induction of the military(again Sinhalised after 1972 under the new constitution) to aid in ethnic cleansing of Tamils who have lived on their village lands for generations.

The commission of gross human rights violations against 300,000 Tamil civilians so affected, killings and abductions.

Hopefully, all crimes against humanity which violate international law will see the light of day eventually even if national laws and actions have remained overtly silent.

The continuation of such pernicious actions can result in further disasters- political, social and economic.

The Governor of Northern Province, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, said that the issue of death threats being issued to journalists at a time when the government claims that normalcy reigns in Jaffna is a matter of defence and hence out of his area of power, in response to questions raised by journalists, in a special press meet held by the governor Monday in Jaffna Secretariat.

The question was raised when the governor said that even foreign banks have come forward to open branches in Jaffna as law and order prevail in Jaffna and normalcy of life has been restored.

The journalists pointed out to the recent incident where editors of the three leading Tamil dailies and their journalists were issued death threats for not publishing news in support of the government.

The Sinhalese seem to be hopelessly mixed up with their “assertions” which are figments of theit own imaginations not borne out even by the Mahavamsa fable said to date from 4th century AD written by Mahanama, which inter alia, refers to the presence of the ‘Nagas’ (cobra worshipping Tamils) and the ‘Yakkas’ (the Veddahs)at the time Vijaya and his men landed adrift in Thambapani after being banished by his father from India.

To assert, as The Sinhalese have chosen to do, is not only to display ignorance of the highest degree but also patent racism which is at the core of the dissimilarity in Sri Lanka.

The institutionalised state-sponsored colonisation schemes and regularisation of large scale encroachments on the Tamils Homelands accompanied by regularisation by mainly Sinhala people in the north and east in order to change the ethnic ratios after independence is well known.

The ethnic cleansing pogroms in Muttur and Sampur followed by recent events in the east also demonstrates the induction of the military(again Sinhalised after 1972 under the new constitution) to aid in ethnic cleansing of Tamils who have lived on their village lands for generations.

The commission of gross human rights violations against 300,000 Tamil civilians so affected, killings and abductions.

Hopefully, all crimes against humanity which violate international law will see the light of day eventually even if national laws and actions have remained overtly silent.

The continuation of such pernicious actions can result in further disasters- political, social and economic.

The Governor of Northern Province, Major Gen. G. A. Chandrasiri, said that the issue of death threats being issued to journalists at a time when the government claims that normalcy reigns in Jaffna is a matter of defence and hence out of his area of power, in response to questions raised by journalists, in a special press meet held by the governor Monday in Jaffna Secretariat.

The question was raised when the governor said that even foreign banks have come forward to open branches in Jaffna as law and order prevail in Jaffna and normalcy of life has been restored.

The journalists pointed out to the recent incident where editors of the three leading Tamil dailies and their journalists were issued death threats for not publishing news in support of the government.

Thanks AIUSA for the voice against Human right violation in sri lanka.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee advocating the need to focus on economy and security of Sri Lanka instead of humanitarian considerations to initiate warming of relationship with Sri Lanka? http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

Is US trying to forget the minorities in sri lanka at any price? India's congr. did the same because of China card on the game.

Thanks AIUSA for the voice against Human right violation in sri lanka.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee advocating the need to focus on economy and security of Sri Lanka instead of humanitarian considerations to initiate warming of relationship with Sri Lanka? http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

Is US trying to forget the minorities in sri lanka at any price? India's congr. did the same because of China card on the game.

Thanks AIUSA for the voice against Human right violation in sri lanka.

US Senate Foreign Relations Committee advocating the need to focus on economy and security of Sri Lanka instead of humanitarian considerations to initiate warming of relationship with Sri Lanka? http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&art…

Is US trying to forget the minorities in sri lanka at any price? India's congr. did the same because of China card on the game.

A document entitled "Sri Lanka – A Humanitarian Update" issued recently by the U.N. includes the following sentence: "IDPs received letters from the authorities indicating that they would be allowed them [sic] to move out of camps for a period of up to 15 days after which they are required to return."

Assuming the U.N. report is accurate, I hope the Sri Lankan government makes it clear to all the IDPs that they can ignore the 15-day return requirement in the letters they received from the government.

A document entitled "Sri Lanka – A Humanitarian Update" issued recently by the U.N. includes the following sentence: "IDPs received letters from the authorities indicating that they would be allowed them [sic] to move out of camps for a period of up to 15 days after which they are required to return."

Assuming the U.N. report is accurate, I hope the Sri Lankan government makes it clear to all the IDPs that they can ignore the 15-day return requirement in the letters they received from the government.

A document entitled "Sri Lanka – A Humanitarian Update" issued recently by the U.N. includes the following sentence: "IDPs received letters from the authorities indicating that they would be allowed them [sic] to move out of camps for a period of up to 15 days after which they are required to return."

Assuming the U.N. report is accurate, I hope the Sri Lankan government makes it clear to all the IDPs that they can ignore the 15-day return requirement in the letters they received from the government.

A document entitled “Sri Lanka – A Humanitarian Update” issued recently by the U.N. includes the following sentence: “IDPs received letters from the authorities indicating that they would be allowed them [sic] to move out of camps for a period of up to 15 days after which they are required to return.”

Assuming the U.N. report is accurate, I hope the Sri Lankan government makes it clear to all the IDPs that they can ignore the 15-day return requirement in the letters they received from the government.

Video footage that appears to show Sri Lankan troops committing war crimes by summarily executing captured Tamil Tiger fighters on the battlefield was not fabricated, as claimed by the Sri Lankan Government, an investigation by The Times has found.

The findings come after General Sarath Fonseka, the former head of the army, alleged that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Minister, had ordered that surrendering Tiger leaders be killed rather than taken prisoner in the final days of the brutal 26-year civil war that ended in May.

An analysis for The Times by Grant Fredericks, an independent forensic video specialist who is also an instructor at the FBI National Academy, suggests otherwise. He found no evidence of digital manipulation, editing or any other special effects. However, subtle details consistent with a real shooting, such as a discharge of gas from the barrel of the weapon used, were visible.

“This level of subtle detail cannot be virtually reproduced. This is clearly an original recording,” said Mr Fredericks, who was previously the head of the Vancouver police forensic video unit in Canada.

There was also strong evidence to rule out the use of actors.“Even if the weapons fired blanks, the barrel is so close to the head of the ‘actors’ that the gas discharge alone leaves the weapon with such force it would likely cause serious injury or death,” Mr Fredericks said.

The reactions of those executed was consistent with reality, he added.“The victims do not lunge forward …[they] fall backward in a very realistic reaction, unlike what is normally depicted in the movies.”

In Mr Fredericks’s opinion “the injury to the head of the second victim and the oozing liquid from that injury cannot be reproduced realistically without editing cuts, camera angle changes and special effects. No [errors] exist anywhere in any of the images that support a technical fabrication of the events depicted,” he said.

Mr Fredericks’s research showed that code embedded in the footage appeared to match with software used in Nokia mobile phones.” He said:“The recording is completely consistent with a cell phone video recording and there are no signs of editing or alterations.”

The strong evidence that the footage does show real executions could reinforce international calls for an independent war crimes investigation — something that the Sri Lanka Government has resisted.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/…

Video footage that appears to show Sri Lankan troops committing war crimes by summarily executing captured Tamil Tiger fighters on the battlefield was not fabricated, as claimed by the Sri Lankan Government, an investigation by The Times has found.

The findings come after General Sarath Fonseka, the former head of the army, alleged that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Minister, had ordered that surrendering Tiger leaders be killed rather than taken prisoner in the final days of the brutal 26-year civil war that ended in May.

An analysis for The Times by Grant Fredericks, an independent forensic video specialist who is also an instructor at the FBI National Academy, suggests otherwise. He found no evidence of digital manipulation, editing or any other special effects. However, subtle details consistent with a real shooting, such as a discharge of gas from the barrel of the weapon used, were visible.

“This level of subtle detail cannot be virtually reproduced. This is clearly an original recording,” said Mr Fredericks, who was previously the head of the Vancouver police forensic video unit in Canada.

There was also strong evidence to rule out the use of actors.“Even if the weapons fired blanks, the barrel is so close to the head of the ‘actors’ that the gas discharge alone leaves the weapon with such force it would likely cause serious injury or death,” Mr Fredericks said.

The reactions of those executed was consistent with reality, he added.“The victims do not lunge forward …[they] fall backward in a very realistic reaction, unlike what is normally depicted in the movies.”

In Mr Fredericks’s opinion “the injury to the head of the second victim and the oozing liquid from that injury cannot be reproduced realistically without editing cuts, camera angle changes and special effects. No [errors] exist anywhere in any of the images that support a technical fabrication of the events depicted,” he said.

Mr Fredericks’s research showed that code embedded in the footage appeared to match with software used in Nokia mobile phones.” He said:“The recording is completely consistent with a cell phone video recording and there are no signs of editing or alterations.”

The strong evidence that the footage does show real executions could reinforce international calls for an independent war crimes investigation — something that the Sri Lanka Government has resisted.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/…

Video footage that appears to show Sri Lankan troops committing war crimes by summarily executing captured Tamil Tiger fighters on the battlefield was not fabricated, as claimed by the Sri Lankan Government, an investigation by The Times has found.

The findings come after General Sarath Fonseka, the former head of the army, alleged that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Minister, had ordered that surrendering Tiger leaders be killed rather than taken prisoner in the final days of the brutal 26-year civil war that ended in May.

An analysis for The Times by Grant Fredericks, an independent forensic video specialist who is also an instructor at the FBI National Academy, suggests otherwise. He found no evidence of digital manipulation, editing or any other special effects. However, subtle details consistent with a real shooting, such as a discharge of gas from the barrel of the weapon used, were visible.

“This level of subtle detail cannot be virtually reproduced. This is clearly an original recording,” said Mr Fredericks, who was previously the head of the Vancouver police forensic video unit in Canada.

There was also strong evidence to rule out the use of actors.“Even if the weapons fired blanks, the barrel is so close to the head of the ‘actors’ that the gas discharge alone leaves the weapon with such force it would likely cause serious injury or death,” Mr Fredericks said.

The reactions of those executed was consistent with reality, he added.“The victims do not lunge forward …[they] fall backward in a very realistic reaction, unlike what is normally depicted in the movies.”

In Mr Fredericks’s opinion “the injury to the head of the second victim and the oozing liquid from that injury cannot be reproduced realistically without editing cuts, camera angle changes and special effects. No [errors] exist anywhere in any of the images that support a technical fabrication of the events depicted,” he said.

Mr Fredericks’s research showed that code embedded in the footage appeared to match with software used in Nokia mobile phones.” He said:“The recording is completely consistent with a cell phone video recording and there are no signs of editing or alterations.”

The strong evidence that the footage does show real executions could reinforce international calls for an independent war crimes investigation — something that the Sri Lanka Government has resisted.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/…

They allegedly show extra-judicial killings of Tamils by Sri Lankan troops earlier this year in the bitter and bloody endgame of the country's civil war.

These poor men are young, naked, bound and blindfolded. A soldier approaches in what appears to be Sri Lankan army uniform and shoots him at point-blank range, apparently amused at the death.

“It’s like he jumped,” he says. After the murder the video, taken in daylight, pans out to show eight bound corpses, all shot in the head and all but one naked.

Voices in the background speak Sinhalese; as the footage concludes, viewers see a ninth bound victim. The significance of this footage – particularly shocking for the seemingly casual way in which the killings were carried out.

Video footage that appears to show Sri Lankan troops committing war crimes by summarily executing captured Tamil Tiger fighters on the battlefield was not fabricated, as claimed by the Sri Lankan Government, an investigation by The Times has found.

The findings come after General Sarath Fonseka, the former head of the army, alleged that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the Defence Minister, had ordered that surrendering Tiger leaders be killed rather than taken prisoner in the final days of the brutal 26-year civil war that ended in May.

An analysis for The Times by Grant Fredericks, an independent forensic video specialist who is also an instructor at the FBI National Academy, suggests otherwise. He found no evidence of digital manipulation, editing or any other special effects. However, subtle details consistent with a real shooting, such as a discharge of gas from the barrel of the weapon used, were visible.

“This level of subtle detail cannot be virtually reproduced. This is clearly an original recording,” said Mr Fredericks, who was previously the head of the Vancouver police forensic video unit in Canada.

There was also strong evidence to rule out the use of actors.“Even if the weapons fired blanks, the barrel is so close to the head of the ‘actors’ that the gas discharge alone leaves the weapon with such force it would likely cause serious injury or death,” Mr Fredericks said.

The reactions of those executed was consistent with reality, he added.“The victims do not lunge forward …[they] fall backward in a very realistic reaction, unlike what is normally depicted in the movies.”

In Mr Fredericks’s opinion “the injury to the head of the second victim and the oozing liquid from that injury cannot be reproduced realistically without editing cuts, camera angle changes and special effects. No [errors] exist anywhere in any of the images that support a technical fabrication of the events depicted,” he said.

Mr Fredericks’s research showed that code embedded in the footage appeared to match with software used in Nokia mobile phones.” He said:“The recording is completely consistent with a cell phone video recording and there are no signs of editing or alterations.”

The strong evidence that the footage does show real executions could reinforce international calls for an independent war crimes investigation — something that the Sri Lanka Government has resisted.

They allegedly show extra-judicial killings of Tamils by Sri Lankan troops earlier this year in the bitter and bloody endgame of the country’s civil war.

These poor men are young, naked, bound and blindfolded. A soldier approaches in what appears to be Sri Lankan army uniform and shoots him at point-blank range, apparently amused at the death.

“It’s like he jumped,” he says. After the murder the video, taken in daylight, pans out to show eight bound corpses, all shot in the head and all but one naked.

Voices in the background speak Sinhalese; as the footage concludes, viewers see a ninth bound victim. The significance of this footage – particularly shocking for the seemingly casual way in which the killings were carried out.

Do you actually think that the government statement cannot be trusted? If so, can you please tell us whom to believe? I see a set of Diaspora in this forum who seem to go hand in hand with you. What you must realise is that most of these Diaspora are LTTE people and have different reasons behind their posts. What you do actually is support them instead of a government determined to get rid of Terrorism just like the USA government and their supporting western governments. Ideally, being from the west, you should be supporting the Sri Lanka government and not terrorists.

IDP's are being sent to their own homes and are settled in a big way – why can't you believe it ?

Do you actually think that the government statement cannot be trusted? If so, can you please tell us whom to believe? I see a set of Diaspora in this forum who seem to go hand in hand with you. What you must realise is that most of these Diaspora are LTTE people and have different reasons behind their posts. What you do actually is support them instead of a government determined to get rid of Terrorism just like the USA government and their supporting western governments. Ideally, being from the west, you should be supporting the Sri Lanka government and not terrorists.

IDP’s are being sent to their own homes and are settled in a big way – why can’t you believe it ?

In response to very funny's comment above, let me try to clarify my earlier response. The comment from funny argued that there were a group of commentors on this forum who were actually LTTE members and who agreed with the concerns I was raising about whether the IDPs would be restricted in how long they could stay away from the camps (which is the topic of the blog entry above). My response to that comment pointed out that it was not only me or other commentors on this forum who were concerned about whether there was a 10- or 15-day restriction on the IDPs' right to leave the camps; the U.N. had reported it as well. I have also mentioned Sri Lankan government statements denying the existence of any such restriction, and have made it repeatedly clear that I hope that the government statements can be believed and will be shown by the facts on the ground to be true.

In response to very funny’s comment above, let me try to clarify my earlier response. The comment from funny argued that there were a group of commentors on this forum who were actually LTTE members and who agreed with the concerns I was raising about whether the IDPs would be restricted in how long they could stay away from the camps (which is the topic of the blog entry above). My response to that comment pointed out that it was not only me or other commentors on this forum who were concerned about whether there was a 10- or 15-day restriction on the IDPs’ right to leave the camps; the U.N. had reported it as well. I have also mentioned Sri Lankan government statements denying the existence of any such restriction, and have made it repeatedly clear that I hope that the government statements can be believed and will be shown by the facts on the ground to be true.

More bad news our resident Eelamtards and HR overlords & lecturers in AI, HRW, Int'l Crisis Group and the rest of the INGO alphabet soup.

The Prez has opened a victory statue at Nandikadal lagoon, where the HR crowd's favourite 'rebels' were annihilated. http://www.infolanka.com/news/IL/855.htm The statue itself is not to my taste, but then we can't have everything can we?

No sign of Peelam anywhere. At all. Nope.

100,000+ Sri Lankans (mainly Muslims) expelled by the LTTE are finally returning to their homes in the North, after spending 20+ years in IDP camps. No sign of Peelam anywhere. At all. The recently displaced civilians are slowly being re-settled, as originally planned, despite the fervent hopes of the Eelamists that they'd be killed in their thousands.

LTTE gun-running ships have been seized and are being returned to SL along with a huge haul of LTTE funds. It seems that KP simply can't stop singing. Still no signs of Peelam. Thank you, LTTE-supporting diaspora for the funds & ships, which will be used for creation rather than destruction.

Even the Canadians are having second thoughts about accepting the incredible cultural enrichment on offer by escaping LTTE terrorists desperate to claim asylum. Hmmm…

The Monsoon Genocide so fervently hoped for by AI and their Eelamtard supporters has not happened.

The US has finally realised that constructive dialogue is more productive than lecturing and finger-wagging. The right to life and limb precedes an obsession with human rights and 'war crimes'.

"….so that U.S. policy is not driven solely by short-term humanitarian concerns but rather an integrated strategy that leverages political, economic, and security tools for more effective long-term reforms.”

True to form, AI is .."In short, Amnesty International is deeply disappointed with the senate report." Not one word about tracking down the LTTE-supporting diaspora who aided and abetted the LTTE in its own massive and continuous HR violations. AI only has eyes for SL.

Not a word or phrase of thanks or appreciation by the AI of SL military who did the impossible and destroyed the prime causative agent of HR abuses in SL. The LTTE.

As Churchill said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they've tried everything else.” The same, however cannot be said of AI and their fellow travellers.

Amnesty's performance at the US senate hearing into SL (the obvious arrogance of the US senate holding itself as a moral arbiter would be funny were it not so hypocritical — but then the US always had a messianic 'manifest destiny' thing in their blood), proves yet again, they can only whinge and whine and not actually do anything positive to annihilate terrorism and thus generally improve HR.

Memo to any future government. Ensure that AI are not allowed back into SL. Their partiality and hostility to SL when it really mattered has, in my view, made them NGO Non-grata.

More de-mining help from India and the U.S. The list goes on and on.

Mawatham still talking about these mythical 'Tamil Homelands' (except those areas in Colombo) and clutching at the Mahavamsa myths and legends. This is 2009. The war is finished. The Eelam project is dead, except in the hearts of grief-stricken Eelamists. The rest of SL now wants development and peace and a rest from the mad schemes of Eelamists.

Four LTTE cadres marooned on a rock in the middle of the ocean, impotently firing their guns at the sky. A perfect metaphor for 'The Struggle'.

Happy Human Rights Day! Now that the LTTE's been crushed, we may see some positive outcomes for HR in SL.

Jim Pappa: let me know if you have an email I can contact you on. As you know, the HR Gods at AI still censor me; you can contact me at this email: handinglove62@yahoo.co.uk I just need to find a way distinguish your message from the Eelamists' inevitable love letters

More bad news our resident Eelamtards and HR overlords & lecturers in AI, HRW, Int'l Crisis Group and the rest of the INGO alphabet soup.

The Prez has opened a victory statue at Nandikadal lagoon, where the HR crowd's favourite 'rebels' were annihilated. http://www.infolanka.com/news/IL/855.htm The statue itself is not to my taste, but then we can't have everything can we?

No sign of Peelam anywhere. At all. Nope.

100,000+ Sri Lankans (mainly Muslims) expelled by the LTTE are finally returning to their homes in the North, after spending 20+ years in IDP camps. No sign of Peelam anywhere. At all. The recently displaced civilians are slowly being re-settled, as originally planned, despite the fervent hopes of the Eelamists that they'd be killed in their thousands.

LTTE gun-running ships have been seized and are being returned to SL along with a huge haul of LTTE funds. It seems that KP simply can't stop singing. Still no signs of Peelam. Thank you, LTTE-supporting diaspora for the funds & ships, which will be used for creation rather than destruction.

Even the Canadians are having second thoughts about accepting the incredible cultural enrichment on offer by escaping LTTE terrorists desperate to claim asylum. Hmmm…

The Monsoon Genocide so fervently hoped for by AI and their Eelamtard supporters has not happened.

The US has finally realised that constructive dialogue is more productive than lecturing and finger-wagging. The right to life and limb precedes an obsession with human rights and 'war crimes'.

"….so that U.S. policy is not driven solely by short-term humanitarian concerns but rather an integrated strategy that leverages political, economic, and security tools for more effective long-term reforms.”

True to form, AI is .."In short, Amnesty International is deeply disappointed with the senate report." Not one word about tracking down the LTTE-supporting diaspora who aided and abetted the LTTE in its own massive and continuous HR violations. AI only has eyes for SL.

Not a word or phrase of thanks or appreciation by the AI of SL military who did the impossible and destroyed the prime causative agent of HR abuses in SL. The LTTE.

As Churchill said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they've tried everything else.” The same, however cannot be said of AI and their fellow travellers.

Amnesty's performance at the US senate hearing into SL (the obvious arrogance of the US senate holding itself as a moral arbiter would be funny were it not so hypocritical — but then the US always had a messianic 'manifest destiny' thing in their blood), proves yet again, they can only whinge and whine and not actually do anything positive to annihilate terrorism and thus generally improve HR.

Memo to any future government. Ensure that AI are not allowed back into SL. Their partiality and hostility to SL when it really mattered has, in my view, made them NGO Non-grata.

More de-mining help from India and the U.S. The list goes on and on.

Mawatham still talking about these mythical 'Tamil Homelands' (except those areas in Colombo) and clutching at the Mahavamsa myths and legends. This is 2009. The war is finished. The Eelam project is dead, except in the hearts of grief-stricken Eelamists. The rest of SL now wants development and peace and a rest from the mad schemes of Eelamists.

Four LTTE cadres marooned on a rock in the middle of the ocean, impotently firing their guns at the sky. A perfect metaphor for 'The Struggle'.

Happy Human Rights Day! Now that the LTTE's been crushed, we may see some positive outcomes for HR in SL.

Jim Pappa: let me know if you have an email I can contact you on. As you know, the HR Gods at AI still censor me; you can contact me at this email: handinglove62@yahoo.co.uk I just need to find a way distinguish your message from the Eelamists' inevitable love letters

More bad news our resident Eelamtards and HR overlords & lecturers in AI, HRW, Int'l Crisis Group and the rest of the INGO alphabet soup.

The Prez has opened a victory statue at Nandikadal lagoon, where the HR crowd's favourite 'rebels' were annihilated. http://www.infolanka.com/news/IL/855.htm The statue itself is not to my taste, but then we can't have everything can we?

No sign of Peelam anywhere. At all. Nope.

100,000+ Sri Lankans (mainly Muslims) expelled by the LTTE are finally returning to their homes in the North, after spending 20+ years in IDP camps. No sign of Peelam anywhere. At all. The recently displaced civilians are slowly being re-settled, as originally planned, despite the fervent hopes of the Eelamists that they'd be killed in their thousands.

LTTE gun-running ships have been seized and are being returned to SL along with a huge haul of LTTE funds. It seems that KP simply can't stop singing. Still no signs of Peelam. Thank you, LTTE-supporting diaspora for the funds & ships, which will be used for creation rather than destruction.

Even the Canadians are having second thoughts about accepting the incredible cultural enrichment on offer by escaping LTTE terrorists desperate to claim asylum. Hmmm…

The Monsoon Genocide so fervently hoped for by AI and their Eelamtard supporters has not happened.

The US has finally realised that constructive dialogue is more productive than lecturing and finger-wagging. The right to life and limb precedes an obsession with human rights and 'war crimes'.

"….so that U.S. policy is not driven solely by short-term humanitarian concerns but rather an integrated strategy that leverages political, economic, and security tools for more effective long-term reforms.”

True to form, AI is .."In short, Amnesty International is deeply disappointed with the senate report." Not one word about tracking down the LTTE-supporting diaspora who aided and abetted the LTTE in its own massive and continuous HR violations. AI only has eyes for SL.

Not a word or phrase of thanks or appreciation by the AI of SL military who did the impossible and destroyed the prime causative agent of HR abuses in SL. The LTTE.

As Churchill said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they've tried everything else.” The same, however cannot be said of AI and their fellow travellers.

Amnesty's performance at the US senate hearing into SL (the obvious arrogance of the US senate holding itself as a moral arbiter would be funny were it not so hypocritical — but then the US always had a messianic 'manifest destiny' thing in their blood), proves yet again, they can only whinge and whine and not actually do anything positive to annihilate terrorism and thus generally improve HR.

Memo to any future government. Ensure that AI are not allowed back into SL. Their partiality and hostility to SL when it really mattered has, in my view, made them NGO Non-grata.

More de-mining help from India and the U.S. The list goes on and on.

Mawatham still talking about these mythical 'Tamil Homelands' (except those areas in Colombo) and clutching at the Mahavamsa myths and legends. This is 2009. The war is finished. The Eelam project is dead, except in the hearts of grief-stricken Eelamists. The rest of SL now wants development and peace and a rest from the mad schemes of Eelamists.

Four LTTE cadres marooned on a rock in the middle of the ocean, impotently firing their guns at the sky. A perfect metaphor for 'The Struggle'.

Happy Human Rights Day! Now that the LTTE's been crushed, we may see some positive outcomes for HR in SL.

Jim Pappa: let me know if you have an email I can contact you on. As you know, the HR Gods at AI still censor me; you can contact me at this email: handinglove62@yahoo.co.uk I just need to find a way distinguish your message from the Eelamists' inevitable love letters

More bad news our resident Eelamtards and HR overlords & lecturers in AI, HRW, Int’l Crisis Group and the rest of the INGO alphabet soup.

The Prez has opened a victory statue at Nandikadal lagoon, where the HR crowd’s favourite ‘rebels’ were annihilated.http://www.infolanka.com/news/IL/855.htm The statue itself is not to my taste, but then we can’t have everything can we?

No sign of Peelam anywhere. At all. Nope.

100,000+ Sri Lankans (mainly Muslims) expelled by the LTTE are finally returning to their homes in the North, after spending 20+ years in IDP camps. No sign of Peelam anywhere. At all. The recently displaced civilians are slowly being re-settled, as originally planned, despite the fervent hopes of the Eelamists that they’d be killed in their thousands.

LTTE gun-running ships have been seized and are being returned to SL along with a huge haul of LTTE funds. It seems that KP simply can’t stop singing. Still no signs of Peelam. Thank you, LTTE-supporting diaspora for the funds & ships, which will be used for creation rather than destruction.

Even the Canadians are having second thoughts about accepting the incredible cultural enrichment on offer by escaping LTTE terrorists desperate to claim asylum. Hmmm…

The Monsoon Genocide so fervently hoped for by AI and their Eelamtard supporters has not happened.

The US has finally realised that constructive dialogue is more productive than lecturing and finger-wagging. The right to life and limb precedes an obsession with human rights and ‘war crimes’.

“….so that U.S. policy is not driven solely by short-term humanitarian concerns but rather an integrated strategy that leverages political, economic, and security tools for more effective long-term reforms.”

True to form, AI is ..”In short, Amnesty International is deeply disappointed with the senate report.” Not one word about tracking down the LTTE-supporting diaspora who aided and abetted the LTTE in its own massive and continuous HR violations. AI only has eyes for SL.

Not a word or phrase of thanks or appreciation by the AI of SL military who did the impossible and destroyed the prime causative agent of HR abuses in SL. The LTTE.

As Churchill said, “You can always count on Americans to do the right thing – after they’ve tried everything else.” The same, however cannot be said of AI and their fellow travellers.

Amnesty’s performance at the US senate hearing into SL (the obvious arrogance of the US senate holding itself as a moral arbiter would be funny were it not so hypocritical — but then the US always had a messianic ‘manifest destiny’ thing in their blood), proves yet again, they can only whinge and whine and not actually do anything positive to annihilate terrorism and thus generally improve HR.

Memo to any future government. Ensure that AI are not allowed back into SL. Their partiality and hostility to SL when it really mattered has, in my view, made them NGO Non-grata.

More de-mining help from India and the U.S. The list goes on and on.

Mawatham still talking about these mythical ‘Tamil Homelands’ (except those areas in Colombo) and clutching at the Mahavamsa myths and legends. This is 2009. The war is finished. The Eelam project is dead, except in the hearts of grief-stricken Eelamists. The rest of SL now wants development and peace and a rest from the mad schemes of Eelamists.

Thambi (or is it Tnabmi) is hoping that AI will get him Eelam in SL.

But, I have good news for our ‘Desperately Seeking Eelam’ activists. Eelam has finally been established.

Four LTTE cadres marooned on a rock in the middle of the ocean, impotently firing their guns at the sky. A perfect metaphor for ‘The Struggle’.

Happy Human Rights Day! Now that the LTTE’s been crushed, we may see some positive outcomes for HR in SL.

Jim Pappa: let me know if you have an email I can contact you on. As you know, the HR Gods at AI still censor me; you can contact me at this email: handinglove62@yahoo.co.uk I just need to find a way distinguish your message from the Eelamists’ inevitable love letters

A British medic held for months in an internment camp for Tamil civilians has revealed how military guards dealt out cruel punishments, while many suspected of links to Tiger rebels were taken away and have not been seen since.

Tamil women interned after escaping the horrors of the civil war in Sri Lanka were sexually abused by their guards who traded sex for food, a British medic has revealed.

Vany Kumar, who was locked up behind barbed wire in the Menik Farm refugee camp for four months, also claims prisoners were punished by being made to kneel for hours in the hot sun, and those suspected of links to the defeated Tamil Tigers were taken away and not seen again by their families.

Kumar, 25, from Essex, was released from internment in September, but has waited until now to reveal the full scale of her ordeal in the hope of avoiding reprisals against friends and family held with her. They have now been released after the Sri Lankan government bowed to international pressure this month and opened the camps.

The Sri Lankan government confirmed to the Observer that it had received reports from United Nations agencies of physical and sexual abuse within the camps, but maintained that it had not been possible to substantiate the allegations. It denied that prisoners had disappeared. In response, a UN spokesman accused Colombo of "doing everything it could" to obstruct attempts to monitor the welfare of the hundreds of thousands interned in the camps.

Kumar, a biomedical graduate, was incarcerated in May in what she describes as a "concentration camp", along with nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians who managed to escape the slaughter which accompanied the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who had been fighting for 25 years for a separate state on the island. Working amid heavy shelling in an improvised field hospital, she had spent months helping save the lives of hundreds of civilians wounded as they were caught between advancing government soldiers and the cornered Tigers.

Sri Lanka has consistently denied mistreating the detainees, but Kumar's damning new evidence will bolster the claims of human rights organisations which have repeatedly criticised the government in Colombo.

Speaking at the family home in Chingford, she accused the Sri Lankan government of persecuting Tamils as it sought to round up rebels who had escaped the fighting. "It was a concentration camp, where people were not even allowed to talk, not even allowed to go near the fences," she said. "They were kept from the outside world. The government didn't want people to tell what happened to them, about the missing or the disappearances or the sexual abuse. They didn't want anyone to know.

"Sexual abuse is something that was a common thing, that I personally saw. In the visitor area relatives would be the other side of the fence and we would be in the camp. Girls came to wait for their relatives and military officers would come and touch them, and that's something I saw.

"The girls usually didn't talk back to them, because they knew that in the camp if they talked anything could happen to them. It was quite open, everyone could see the military officers touching the girls," she said.

"Tamil girls usually don't talk about sexual abuse, they won't open their mouths about it, but I heard the officers were giving the women money or food in return for sex. These people were desperate for everything."

She said prisoners who complained about their treatment were singled out by the guards. "One time I saw an old man was waiting to visit the next camp and this military officer hit the old man. I don't know what the argument was, but the officer just hit him in the back.

"In the same area people were made to kneel down in the hot weather for arguing with the officers. Sometimes it lasted for hours."

Sometimes white vans appeared in the camp and took people away. White vans hold a particular terror in Sri Lanka, where they are associated with the abduction of thousands of people by death squads. "They were asking people to come in and take their names down if they had any sort of contact [with the Tamil Tigers]. They did an investigation and then a van would come in and they would take them away and nobody would know after that. I know people still searching for family members."

Kumar said that on arrival at the camp, near the northern town of Vavuniya, she was put in a large tent with several people she did not know. The camp was guarded by armed soldiers and ringed with high fences and rolls of razor wire. "The first two or three days I was alone there still scare me. When I arrived at the camp I put my bag down and just cried. That feeling still won't go. I just don't want to think about those two or three days in the camp, the fear about what was going to happen to me.

"For the first few days I didn't eat anything. We didn't know where to go to get food. I thought, 'Am I dreaming or is this really happening?' I never thought I would end up in a camp." Tens of thousands of people were crammed into flimsy tents which provided little respite from the intense heat. Toilets and washing facilities could not cope with the demands and food and water were in short supply.

"You have to bathe in an open area in front of others, which I find very uneasy. I stayed next to the police station, so every day I had a bath with the police officers looking at me, men and women. Everyone can see you when you are having a bath. So I would get up early in the morning about 3.30am, so it was dark," she said.

Kumar was held in the best-equipped part of the camp, but even there conditions were dire. "It is not a standard a human being can live in. The basic needs like water and food [were] always a problem. Most of the time you were queuing for water.

"The toilets were terrible, and there was not enough water, so we could not clean them. There were insects and flies everywhere. After two or three days of continuous rain, the sewage was floating on the water and going into the tents and everyone [was] walking through it, up to knee height."http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/20/tamil…

A British medic held for months in an internment camp for Tamil civilians has revealed how military guards dealt out cruel punishments, while many suspected of links to Tiger rebels were taken away and have not been seen since.

Tamil women interned after escaping the horrors of the civil war in Sri Lanka were sexually abused by their guards who traded sex for food, a British medic has revealed.

Vany Kumar, who was locked up behind barbed wire in the Menik Farm refugee camp for four months, also claims prisoners were punished by being made to kneel for hours in the hot sun, and those suspected of links to the defeated Tamil Tigers were taken away and not seen again by their families.

Kumar, 25, from Essex, was released from internment in September, but has waited until now to reveal the full scale of her ordeal in the hope of avoiding reprisals against friends and family held with her. They have now been released after the Sri Lankan government bowed to international pressure this month and opened the camps.

The Sri Lankan government confirmed to the Observer that it had received reports from United Nations agencies of physical and sexual abuse within the camps, but maintained that it had not been possible to substantiate the allegations. It denied that prisoners had disappeared. In response, a UN spokesman accused Colombo of "doing everything it could" to obstruct attempts to monitor the welfare of the hundreds of thousands interned in the camps.

Kumar, a biomedical graduate, was incarcerated in May in what she describes as a "concentration camp", along with nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians who managed to escape the slaughter which accompanied the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who had been fighting for 25 years for a separate state on the island. Working amid heavy shelling in an improvised field hospital, she had spent months helping save the lives of hundreds of civilians wounded as they were caught between advancing government soldiers and the cornered Tigers.

Sri Lanka has consistently denied mistreating the detainees, but Kumar's damning new evidence will bolster the claims of human rights organisations which have repeatedly criticised the government in Colombo.

Speaking at the family home in Chingford, she accused the Sri Lankan government of persecuting Tamils as it sought to round up rebels who had escaped the fighting. "It was a concentration camp, where people were not even allowed to talk, not even allowed to go near the fences," she said. "They were kept from the outside world. The government didn't want people to tell what happened to them, about the missing or the disappearances or the sexual abuse. They didn't want anyone to know.

"Sexual abuse is something that was a common thing, that I personally saw. In the visitor area relatives would be the other side of the fence and we would be in the camp. Girls came to wait for their relatives and military officers would come and touch them, and that's something I saw.

"The girls usually didn't talk back to them, because they knew that in the camp if they talked anything could happen to them. It was quite open, everyone could see the military officers touching the girls," she said.

"Tamil girls usually don't talk about sexual abuse, they won't open their mouths about it, but I heard the officers were giving the women money or food in return for sex. These people were desperate for everything."

She said prisoners who complained about their treatment were singled out by the guards. "One time I saw an old man was waiting to visit the next camp and this military officer hit the old man. I don't know what the argument was, but the officer just hit him in the back.

"In the same area people were made to kneel down in the hot weather for arguing with the officers. Sometimes it lasted for hours."

Sometimes white vans appeared in the camp and took people away. White vans hold a particular terror in Sri Lanka, where they are associated with the abduction of thousands of people by death squads. "They were asking people to come in and take their names down if they had any sort of contact [with the Tamil Tigers]. They did an investigation and then a van would come in and they would take them away and nobody would know after that. I know people still searching for family members."

Kumar said that on arrival at the camp, near the northern town of Vavuniya, she was put in a large tent with several people she did not know. The camp was guarded by armed soldiers and ringed with high fences and rolls of razor wire. "The first two or three days I was alone there still scare me. When I arrived at the camp I put my bag down and just cried. That feeling still won't go. I just don't want to think about those two or three days in the camp, the fear about what was going to happen to me.

"For the first few days I didn't eat anything. We didn't know where to go to get food. I thought, 'Am I dreaming or is this really happening?' I never thought I would end up in a camp." Tens of thousands of people were crammed into flimsy tents which provided little respite from the intense heat. Toilets and washing facilities could not cope with the demands and food and water were in short supply.

"You have to bathe in an open area in front of others, which I find very uneasy. I stayed next to the police station, so every day I had a bath with the police officers looking at me, men and women. Everyone can see you when you are having a bath. So I would get up early in the morning about 3.30am, so it was dark," she said.

Kumar was held in the best-equipped part of the camp, but even there conditions were dire. "It is not a standard a human being can live in. The basic needs like water and food [were] always a problem. Most of the time you were queuing for water.

"The toilets were terrible, and there was not enough water, so we could not clean them. There were insects and flies everywhere. After two or three days of continuous rain, the sewage was floating on the water and going into the tents and everyone [was] walking through it, up to knee height."http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/20/tamil…

A British medic held for months in an internment camp for Tamil civilians has revealed how military guards dealt out cruel punishments, while many suspected of links to Tiger rebels were taken away and have not been seen since.

Tamil women interned after escaping the horrors of the civil war in Sri Lanka were sexually abused by their guards who traded sex for food, a British medic has revealed.

Vany Kumar, who was locked up behind barbed wire in the Menik Farm refugee camp for four months, also claims prisoners were punished by being made to kneel for hours in the hot sun, and those suspected of links to the defeated Tamil Tigers were taken away and not seen again by their families.

Kumar, 25, from Essex, was released from internment in September, but has waited until now to reveal the full scale of her ordeal in the hope of avoiding reprisals against friends and family held with her. They have now been released after the Sri Lankan government bowed to international pressure this month and opened the camps.

The Sri Lankan government confirmed to the Observer that it had received reports from United Nations agencies of physical and sexual abuse within the camps, but maintained that it had not been possible to substantiate the allegations. It denied that prisoners had disappeared. In response, a UN spokesman accused Colombo of "doing everything it could" to obstruct attempts to monitor the welfare of the hundreds of thousands interned in the camps.

Kumar, a biomedical graduate, was incarcerated in May in what she describes as a "concentration camp", along with nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians who managed to escape the slaughter which accompanied the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who had been fighting for 25 years for a separate state on the island. Working amid heavy shelling in an improvised field hospital, she had spent months helping save the lives of hundreds of civilians wounded as they were caught between advancing government soldiers and the cornered Tigers.

Sri Lanka has consistently denied mistreating the detainees, but Kumar's damning new evidence will bolster the claims of human rights organisations which have repeatedly criticised the government in Colombo.

Speaking at the family home in Chingford, she accused the Sri Lankan government of persecuting Tamils as it sought to round up rebels who had escaped the fighting. "It was a concentration camp, where people were not even allowed to talk, not even allowed to go near the fences," she said. "They were kept from the outside world. The government didn't want people to tell what happened to them, about the missing or the disappearances or the sexual abuse. They didn't want anyone to know.

"Sexual abuse is something that was a common thing, that I personally saw. In the visitor area relatives would be the other side of the fence and we would be in the camp. Girls came to wait for their relatives and military officers would come and touch them, and that's something I saw.

"The girls usually didn't talk back to them, because they knew that in the camp if they talked anything could happen to them. It was quite open, everyone could see the military officers touching the girls," she said.

"Tamil girls usually don't talk about sexual abuse, they won't open their mouths about it, but I heard the officers were giving the women money or food in return for sex. These people were desperate for everything."

She said prisoners who complained about their treatment were singled out by the guards. "One time I saw an old man was waiting to visit the next camp and this military officer hit the old man. I don't know what the argument was, but the officer just hit him in the back.

"In the same area people were made to kneel down in the hot weather for arguing with the officers. Sometimes it lasted for hours."

Sometimes white vans appeared in the camp and took people away. White vans hold a particular terror in Sri Lanka, where they are associated with the abduction of thousands of people by death squads. "They were asking people to come in and take their names down if they had any sort of contact [with the Tamil Tigers]. They did an investigation and then a van would come in and they would take them away and nobody would know after that. I know people still searching for family members."

Kumar said that on arrival at the camp, near the northern town of Vavuniya, she was put in a large tent with several people she did not know. The camp was guarded by armed soldiers and ringed with high fences and rolls of razor wire. "The first two or three days I was alone there still scare me. When I arrived at the camp I put my bag down and just cried. That feeling still won't go. I just don't want to think about those two or three days in the camp, the fear about what was going to happen to me.

"For the first few days I didn't eat anything. We didn't know where to go to get food. I thought, 'Am I dreaming or is this really happening?' I never thought I would end up in a camp." Tens of thousands of people were crammed into flimsy tents which provided little respite from the intense heat. Toilets and washing facilities could not cope with the demands and food and water were in short supply.

"You have to bathe in an open area in front of others, which I find very uneasy. I stayed next to the police station, so every day I had a bath with the police officers looking at me, men and women. Everyone can see you when you are having a bath. So I would get up early in the morning about 3.30am, so it was dark," she said.

Kumar was held in the best-equipped part of the camp, but even there conditions were dire. "It is not a standard a human being can live in. The basic needs like water and food [were] always a problem. Most of the time you were queuing for water.

"The toilets were terrible, and there was not enough water, so we could not clean them. There were insects and flies everywhere. After two or three days of continuous rain, the sewage was floating on the water and going into the tents and everyone [was] walking through it, up to knee height."http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/20/tamil…

A British medic held for months in an internment camp for Tamil civilians has revealed how military guards dealt out cruel punishments, while many suspected of links to Tiger rebels were taken away and have not been seen since.

Tamil women interned after escaping the horrors of the civil war in Sri Lanka were sexually abused by their guards who traded sex for food, a British medic has revealed.

Vany Kumar, who was locked up behind barbed wire in the Menik Farm refugee camp for four months, also claims prisoners were punished by being made to kneel for hours in the hot sun, and those suspected of links to the defeated Tamil Tigers were taken away and not seen again by their families.

Kumar, 25, from Essex, was released from internment in September, but has waited until now to reveal the full scale of her ordeal in the hope of avoiding reprisals against friends and family held with her. They have now been released after the Sri Lankan government bowed to international pressure this month and opened the camps.

The Sri Lankan government confirmed to the Observer that it had received reports from United Nations agencies of physical and sexual abuse within the camps, but maintained that it had not been possible to substantiate the allegations. It denied that prisoners had disappeared. In response, a UN spokesman accused Colombo of “doing everything it could” to obstruct attempts to monitor the welfare of the hundreds of thousands interned in the camps.

Kumar, a biomedical graduate, was incarcerated in May in what she describes as a “concentration camp”, along with nearly 300,000 Tamil civilians who managed to escape the slaughter which accompanied the defeat of the Tamil Tiger rebels, who had been fighting for 25 years for a separate state on the island. Working amid heavy shelling in an improvised field hospital, she had spent months helping save the lives of hundreds of civilians wounded as they were caught between advancing government soldiers and the cornered Tigers.

Sri Lanka has consistently denied mistreating the detainees, but Kumar’s damning new evidence will bolster the claims of human rights organisations which have repeatedly criticised the government in Colombo.

Speaking at the family home in Chingford, she accused the Sri Lankan government of persecuting Tamils as it sought to round up rebels who had escaped the fighting. “It was a concentration camp, where people were not even allowed to talk, not even allowed to go near the fences,” she said. “They were kept from the outside world. The government didn’t want people to tell what happened to them, about the missing or the disappearances or the sexual abuse. They didn’t want anyone to know.

“Sexual abuse is something that was a common thing, that I personally saw. In the visitor area relatives would be the other side of the fence and we would be in the camp. Girls came to wait for their relatives and military officers would come and touch them, and that’s something I saw.

“The girls usually didn’t talk back to them, because they knew that in the camp if they talked anything could happen to them. It was quite open, everyone could see the military officers touching the girls,” she said.

“Tamil girls usually don’t talk about sexual abuse, they won’t open their mouths about it, but I heard the officers were giving the women money or food in return for sex. These people were desperate for everything.”

She said prisoners who complained about their treatment were singled out by the guards. “One time I saw an old man was waiting to visit the next camp and this military officer hit the old man. I don’t know what the argument was, but the officer just hit him in the back.

“In the same area people were made to kneel down in the hot weather for arguing with the officers. Sometimes it lasted for hours.”

Sometimes white vans appeared in the camp and took people away. White vans hold a particular terror in Sri Lanka, where they are associated with the abduction of thousands of people by death squads. “They were asking people to come in and take their names down if they had any sort of contact [with the Tamil Tigers]. They did an investigation and then a van would come in and they would take them away and nobody would know after that. I know people still searching for family members.”

Kumar said that on arrival at the camp, near the northern town of Vavuniya, she was put in a large tent with several people she did not know. The camp was guarded by armed soldiers and ringed with high fences and rolls of razor wire. “The first two or three days I was alone there still scare me. When I arrived at the camp I put my bag down and just cried. That feeling still won’t go. I just don’t want to think about those two or three days in the camp, the fear about what was going to happen to me.

“For the first few days I didn’t eat anything. We didn’t know where to go to get food. I thought, ‘Am I dreaming or is this really happening?’ I never thought I would end up in a camp.” Tens of thousands of people were crammed into flimsy tents which provided little respite from the intense heat. Toilets and washing facilities could not cope with the demands and food and water were in short supply.

“You have to bathe in an open area in front of others, which I find very uneasy. I stayed next to the police station, so every day I had a bath with the police officers looking at me, men and women. Everyone can see you when you are having a bath. So I would get up early in the morning about 3.30am, so it was dark,” she said.

Kumar was held in the best-equipped part of the camp, but even there conditions were dire. “It is not a standard a human being can live in. The basic needs like water and food [were] always a problem. Most of the time you were queuing for water.

“The toilets were terrible, and there was not enough water, so we could not clean them. There were insects and flies everywhere. After two or three days of continuous rain, the sewage was floating on the water and going into the tents and everyone [was] walking through it, up to knee height.”

The United Nations has asked Sri Lanka to explain allegations by a former army general that surrendering Tamil rebel leaders were killed in cold blood in mid-May.

The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, sought explanations on what had happened to three rebel leaders and their families who wanted to surrender.

Two weeks ago, former army chief Sarath Fonseka said that he had been informed by a state media reporter that the defence minister, who is also the president's brother, had wanted all surrendering rebels wiped out.

Sri Lanka recently staved off attempts by Western nations to launch a UN war crimes probe into the country's 37-year ethnic conflict that ended in May when the leaders of the Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a major offensive.

Three Tiger political wing leaders who were arranging his surrender were shot dead on May 17. The government at the time said they may have been killed by the guerrillas themselves.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, had been in telephone contact with a number of guerrillas to arrange their surrender, according to diplomats.

The government had assured Nambiar that surrendering rebels would be safe.

The United Nations has asked Sri Lanka to explain allegations by a former army general that surrendering Tamil rebel leaders were killed in cold blood in mid-May.

The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, sought explanations on what had happened to three rebel leaders and their families who wanted to surrender.

Two weeks ago, former army chief Sarath Fonseka said that he had been informed by a state media reporter that the defence minister, who is also the president's brother, had wanted all surrendering rebels wiped out.

Sri Lanka recently staved off attempts by Western nations to launch a UN war crimes probe into the country's 37-year ethnic conflict that ended in May when the leaders of the Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a major offensive.

Three Tiger political wing leaders who were arranging his surrender were shot dead on May 17. The government at the time said they may have been killed by the guerrillas themselves.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, had been in telephone contact with a number of guerrillas to arrange their surrender, according to diplomats.

The government had assured Nambiar that surrendering rebels would be safe.

The United Nations has asked Sri Lanka to explain allegations by a former army general that surrendering Tamil rebel leaders were killed in cold blood in mid-May.

The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, sought explanations on what had happened to three rebel leaders and their families who wanted to surrender.

Two weeks ago, former army chief Sarath Fonseka said that he had been informed by a state media reporter that the defence minister, who is also the president's brother, had wanted all surrendering rebels wiped out.

Sri Lanka recently staved off attempts by Western nations to launch a UN war crimes probe into the country's 37-year ethnic conflict that ended in May when the leaders of the Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a major offensive.

Three Tiger political wing leaders who were arranging his surrender were shot dead on May 17. The government at the time said they may have been killed by the guerrillas themselves.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, had been in telephone contact with a number of guerrillas to arrange their surrender, according to diplomats.

The government had assured Nambiar that surrendering rebels would be safe.

The United Nations has asked Sri Lanka to explain allegations by a former army general that surrendering Tamil rebel leaders were killed in cold blood in mid-May.

The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Philip Alston, sought explanations on what had happened to three rebel leaders and their families who wanted to surrender.

Two weeks ago, former army chief Sarath Fonseka said that he had been informed by a state media reporter that the defence minister, who is also the president’s brother, had wanted all surrendering rebels wiped out.

Sri Lanka recently staved off attempts by Western nations to launch a UN war crimes probe into the country’s 37-year ethnic conflict that ended in May when the leaders of the Tamil Tiger rebels were killed in a major offensive.

Three Tiger political wing leaders who were arranging his surrender were shot dead on May 17. The government at the time said they may have been killed by the guerrillas themselves.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s chief of staff, Vijay Nambiar, had been in telephone contact with a number of guerrillas to arrange their surrender, according to diplomats.

The government had assured Nambiar that surrendering rebels would be safe.

Fonseka said he had learnt only after the war that senior Tiger rebels had used foreign mediators to organise a plan in which they would carry white flags and give themselves up.

We have discussed this issue in the forums – The General's statement has been misinterpreted by the press and the good General has condemned the paper article and said he never mentioned anything of the sort you have mentioned. So – give up !!

I don't intend to cut and paste articles, hence, decided to publish a link instead. Please do click on "Jim Pappa" and read what the world renowned Diplomat cum HR activist Dayan Jayathilaka has to say. Now, Dayan, not like us, is a know figure and is known for his unbiased opinions which even aggravated the Rajapakse's.

Just to quote from the great, "If India with its 70 million Tamils could not be budged from its stance of low key but decisive support for the Sri Lankan state, surely there is no chance of leveraging any strategically significant Western support for Tamil nationalism, given that the main Asian partner of the USA is India."

We have discussed this issue in the forums – The General’s statement has been misinterpreted by the press and the good General has condemned the paper article and said he never mentioned anything of the sort you have mentioned. So – give up !!

I don’t intend to cut and paste articles, hence, decided to publish a link instead. Please do click on “Jim Pappa” and read what the world renowned Diplomat cum HR activist Dayan Jayathilaka has to say. Now, Dayan, not like us, is a know figure and is known for his unbiased opinions which even aggravated the Rajapakse’s.

Just to quote from the great, “If India with its 70 million Tamils could not be budged from its stance of low key but decisive support for the Sri Lankan state, surely there is no chance of leveraging any strategically significant Western support for Tamil nationalism, given that the main Asian partner of the USA is India.”

Jim pappa,
All knows India's policy, when sri lanka showed the china card, it took only its own interest. This is not a permanent, when JR was in power, it armed Tamils. u know same country divided your president & sarath, now all of your political leaders/war criminals are running to the same country for cover up. How long they are going to cover up crimes commited to Tamils?

Jim pappa,
All knows India’s policy, when sri lanka showed the china card, it took only its own interest. This is not a permanent, when JR was in power, it armed Tamils. u know same country divided your president & sarath, now all of your political leaders/war criminals are running to the same country for cover up. How long they are going to cover up crimes commited to Tamils?

Exerts go as,They said the government had been trying to help them continue with their agricultural activities and setting up income-generating projects.

The government has provided them with 5,000 rupees ($44) in cash and 20,000 rupees ($175) in the bank. They have been promised another instalment of 25,000 rupees ($219).

They were given kitchen utensils to start cooking and six months’ worth of rations.

They were also provided with tools to de-weed the land because it had been abandoned and become overgrown with trees and undergrowth.
Tell me one other government who had gone this distance to help war victims ?????? America ??

Tsunami victims remembered
When the Asian Tsunami struck the shores of Sri Lanka, more than thirty thousands died instantly. They stopped breathing in minutes after they were swept into the ocean.
But the world remained silent when thousands of women and children experienced painful slow death in the killing fields of Sri Lanka.
More than fifty thousand innocent Tamil civilians were killed and thirty thousands were maimed in one of the most brutal wars in the history of the mankind.

Exerts go as,They said the government had been trying to help them continue with their agricultural activities and setting up income-generating projects.

The government has provided them with 5,000 rupees ($44) in cash and 20,000 rupees ($175) in the bank. They have been promised another instalment of 25,000 rupees ($219).

They were given kitchen utensils to start cooking and six months’ worth of rations.

They were also provided with tools to de-weed the land because it had been abandoned and become overgrown with trees and undergrowth.
Tell me one other government who had gone this distance to help war victims ?????? America ??

Tsunami victims remembered
When the Asian Tsunami struck the shores of Sri Lanka, more than thirty thousands died instantly. They stopped breathing in minutes after they were swept into the ocean.
But the world remained silent when thousands of women and children experienced painful slow death in the killing fields of Sri Lanka.
More than fifty thousand innocent Tamil civilians were killed and thirty thousands were maimed in one of the most brutal wars in the history of the mankind.

Tsunami victims remembered
When the Asian Tsunami struck the shores of Sri Lanka, more than thirty thousands died instantly. They stopped breathing in minutes after they were swept into the ocean.
But the world remained silent when thousands of women and children experienced painful slow death in the killing fields of Sri Lanka.
More than fifty thousand innocent Tamil civilians were killed and thirty thousands were maimed in one of the most brutal wars in the history of the mankind.

You are welcome, Rohan ,
Thanks for a fantastic job and keep the posts coming ,my friend

Sri Lankan Army, SLA‘ll kill Tamils in Concentration Camps

A Human Rights activist from Sri Lankan capital Colombo, on conditions of anonymity told WarWithoutWitness that, Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Operatives are planning a secret undercover operation to execute most of the 10,000 odd Tamil Prisoners of War (PoW) before the forthcoming Presidential election to be held on Jan. 26, 2010.http://warwithoutwitness.com/

You are welcome, Rohan ,
Thanks for a fantastic job and keep the posts coming ,my friend

Sri Lankan Army, SLA‘ll kill Tamils in Concentration Camps

A Human Rights activist from Sri Lankan capital Colombo, on conditions of anonymity told WarWithoutWitness that, Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Operatives are planning a secret undercover operation to execute most of the 10,000 odd Tamil Prisoners of War (PoW) before the forthcoming Presidential election to be held on Jan. 26, 2010.http://warwithoutwitness.com/

You are welcome, Rohan ,
Thanks for a fantastic job and keep the posts coming ,my friend

Sri Lankan Army, SLA‘ll kill Tamils in Concentration Camps

A Human Rights activist from Sri Lankan capital Colombo, on conditions of anonymity told WarWithoutWitness that, Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Operatives are planning a secret undercover operation to execute most of the 10,000 odd Tamil Prisoners of War (PoW) before the forthcoming Presidential election to be held on Jan. 26, 2010.http://warwithoutwitness.com/

Tsunami victims remembered
When the Asian Tsunami struck the shores of Sri Lanka, more than thirty thousands died instantly. They stopped breathing in minutes after they were swept into the ocean.
But the world remained silent when thousands of women and children experienced painful slow death in the killing fields of Sri Lanka.
More than fifty thousand innocent Tamil civilians were killed and thirty thousands were maimed in one of the most brutal wars in the history of the mankind.

Diplomat cum HR activist Dayan Jayathilaka has to say. Now, Dayan, not like us, is a know figure and is known for his unbiased opinions which even aggravated the Rajapakse’s.

Just to quote from the great, “If India with its 70 million Tamils could not be budged from its stance of low key but decisive support for the Sri Lankan state, surely there is no chance of leveraging any strategically significant Western support for Tamil nationalism, given that the main Asian partner of the USA is India.”

….it seems DJ puts the blame on Tamil people and leaves out the shortcomings of the sinhala majority

You are welcome, Rohan ,
Thanks for a fantastic job and keep the posts coming ,my friend

Sri Lankan Army, SLA‘ll kill Tamils in Concentration Camps

A Human Rights activist from Sri Lankan capital Colombo, on conditions of anonymity told WarWithoutWitness that, Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Operatives are planning a secret undercover operation to execute most of the 10,000 odd Tamil Prisoners of War (PoW) before the forthcoming Presidential election to be held on Jan. 26, 2010.

Diplomat cum HR activist Dayan Jayathilaka has to say. Now, Dayan, not like us, is a know figure and is known for his unbiased opinions which even aggravated the Rajapakse’s.

Just to quote from the great, “If India with its 70 million Tamils could not be budged from its stance of low key but decisive support for the Sri Lankan state, surely there is no chance of leveraging any strategically significant Western support for Tamil nationalism, given that the main Asian partner of the USA is India.”

….it seems DJ puts the blame on Tamil people and leaves out the shortcomings of the sinhala majority

As per your post, May Be DJ is finally trying to point the finger where it should be pointing at, where as all this time. may be thousands were pointing at a wrong direction.

All that the diaspora (or even the LTTE) was trying to do is kind of create an issue that was never there, but highlight a few negatives that happened (by the Singhales to the Tamil)

See, the issues that they were trying to highlight were common to any country and specially if the country has a decent ethnic divide. Take India for an example – how many times in the past did we hear about fights between different groups for various reasons ?? Take recent issues as in Iraq, where the Sunni's and Shiite's are fighting..

But then again, see India – the fights are reducing. We don't hear as much as we did in the 80's ha ?? I guess this happens with people maturing and getting to love each other and accept each other.

Bottom line is that, these kind of lame excuses are not taken by other countries – it is common thing and they do experience the same in their countries – yes – even USA where Blacks are still treated bad even after the president is black. So, how on earth do you think of any person wanting to take what these guys say seriously ?? They expect these guys to mature over time too I guess…. where SL will have a Tamil president sooner than later – it could have happened with Lakshman K, which the LTTE deprived – the world knows this too – so they know that there is no Ethnic issue in SL, but, a Terrorist issue – where it is these same Terrorists, that show a different face when they show that there is something wrong here.

So, I think we will have to agree when DJ says that some of the guys are kind of behaving very immature and foolish manner.

Pissek wenna epa – don't try to act a fool – I did have serious concerns about your intellect levels, but this proves it.

If the GOSL does not distribute what ever aids given to the guys in the camps, will it work out ???? Do you also mean to say that it is the IC who send each and everything that goes to the IDP's ??? Even we give to the IDP's – what have you given ???

Bottom line is they are happy and most importantly, they have direction of what to do with their lives now. Not like when they had to under go hardships from the mentally challenged Fat Bastard Piribaharan, where R.I.P. in his grave stone would be "Return If Possible" for you !!

You might want to ridicule the GOSL, but be selective when you try to do so, cause you end up looking a fool !!

The words came out from the IDP's – So, let us believe the IDP's and not the Silva's and Gunda's from the west !!

A Human Rights activist from Sri Lankan capital Colombo, on conditions of anonymity told WarWithoutWitness that, Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Operatives are planning a secret undercover operation to execute most of the 10,000 odd Tamil Prisoners of War (PoW) before the forthcoming Presidential election to be held on Jan. 26, 2010.http://warwithoutwitness.com/

As per your post, May Be DJ is finally trying to point the finger where it should be pointing at, where as all this time. may be thousands were pointing at a wrong direction.

All that the diaspora (or even the LTTE) was trying to do is kind of create an issue that was never there, but highlight a few negatives that happened (by the Singhales to the Tamil)

See, the issues that they were trying to highlight were common to any country and specially if the country has a decent ethnic divide. Take India for an example – how many times in the past did we hear about fights between different groups for various reasons ?? Take recent issues as in Iraq, where the Sunni’s and Shiite’s are fighting..

But then again, see India – the fights are reducing. We don’t hear as much as we did in the 80′s ha ?? I guess this happens with people maturing and getting to love each other and accept each other.

Bottom line is that, these kind of lame excuses are not taken by other countries – it is common thing and they do experience the same in their countries – yes – even USA where Blacks are still treated bad even after the president is black. So, how on earth do you think of any person wanting to take what these guys say seriously ?? They expect these guys to mature over time too I guess…. where SL will have a Tamil president sooner than later – it could have happened with Lakshman K, which the LTTE deprived – the world knows this too – so they know that there is no Ethnic issue in SL, but, a Terrorist issue – where it is these same Terrorists, that show a different face when they show that there is something wrong here.

So, I think we will have to agree when DJ says that some of the guys are kind of behaving very immature and foolish manner.

Pissek wenna epa – don’t try to act a fool – I did have serious concerns about your intellect levels, but this proves it.

If the GOSL does not distribute what ever aids given to the guys in the camps, will it work out ???? Do you also mean to say that it is the IC who send each and everything that goes to the IDP’s ??? Even we give to the IDP’s – what have you given ???

Bottom line is they are happy and most importantly, they have direction of what to do with their lives now. Not like when they had to under go hardships from the mentally challenged Fat Bastard Piribaharan, where R.I.P. in his grave stone would be “Return If Possible” for you !!

You might want to ridicule the GOSL, but be selective when you try to do so, cause you end up looking a fool !!

The words came out from the IDP’s – So, let us believe the IDP’s and not the Silva’s and Gunda’s from the west !!

A Human Rights activist from Sri Lankan capital Colombo, on conditions of anonymity told WarWithoutWitness that, Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Operatives are planning a secret undercover operation to execute most of the 10,000 odd Tamil Prisoners of War (PoW) before the forthcoming Presidential election to be held on Jan. 26, 2010.http://warwithoutwitness.com/

A Human Rights activist from Sri Lankan capital Colombo, on conditions of anonymity told WarWithoutWitness that, Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Operatives are planning a secret undercover operation to execute most of the 10,000 odd Tamil Prisoners of War (PoW) before the forthcoming Presidential election to be held on Jan. 26, 2010.http://warwithoutwitness.com/

Sri Lankan government has yet to find enduring solutions to the problems of the IDPs.

Many tears – some genuine but mostly ‘crocodile’- were shed on the plight of these unfortunate people.

Politics of the worst sort came into play and the IDPs became its victims, as much as they were the victims of a brutal war that was insensitive to human suffering.

Large numbers of these IDPs have been released from the concentration camps in the past two months and purportedly resettled.

The truth seems to expose the farce the whole issue of the Tamil IDPs has become.

A9 highway of heartless politics………….

This is what‘s on Sri Lankan A9 highway and either side of it:

1. There are many Sri Lankan Army security posts at approximately 50-100 meter intervals on either side of the highway.

2. The IDP shelters are set between these security posts.

3. The IDPs are living in shelters, made of twelve galvanized iron sheets and a sheet of blue water-proof plastic. These galvanized iron and the plastic sheets are provided as a standard free issue to the IDPs leaving the camps irrespective of their family size.

4. There are no toilets visible. The IDPs are very likely using the adjoining scrub jungle as open toilets and these definitely pose a serious health hazard.

5. There are no visible sources of available water near most shelters.

6. Due to the heavy rains and accompanying winds the re-settled IDPs are living under the most inhuman conditions. There was water inside many shelters and the shelters themselves were surrounded by water.

7. Medical faculties are not available in the vicinity and ready transport is unavailable. The few buses that travel on this route are over-crowded and do not stop for these IDPs.

8. Kilinotchi town is in shambles and has to be almost completely re-built. Only a handful of civilians are in Kilinotchi town.

9. There were no visible signs of NGO presence along the stretch of A9 highway between Vavuniya and Muhamalai.

10. The conditions under which the soldiers in the security posts are living are much better than those of the IDPs. The soldiers are provided with their food , water, transport and health needs by the government in an organized manner.

11. The conditions in which these IDPs are living are heart rending to see.

A Human Rights activist from Sri Lankan capital Colombo, on conditions of anonymity told WarWithoutWitness that, Sri Lankan Military Intelligence Operatives are planning a secret undercover operation to execute most of the 10,000 odd Tamil Prisoners of War (PoW) before the forthcoming Presidential election to be held on Jan. 26, 2010.

Sri Lankan government has yet to find enduring solutions to the problems of the IDPs.

Many tears – some genuine but mostly ‘crocodile’- were shed on the plight of these unfortunate people.

Politics of the worst sort came into play and the IDPs became its victims, as much as they were the victims of a brutal war that was insensitive to human suffering.

Large numbers of these IDPs have been released from the concentration camps in the past two months and purportedly resettled.

The truth seems to expose the farce the whole issue of the Tamil IDPs has become.

A9 highway of heartless politics………….

This is what‘s on Sri Lankan A9 highway and either side of it:

1. There are many Sri Lankan Army security posts at approximately 50-100 meter intervals on either side of the highway.

2. The IDP shelters are set between these security posts.

3. The IDPs are living in shelters, made of twelve galvanized iron sheets and a sheet of blue water-proof plastic. These galvanized iron and the plastic sheets are provided as a standard free issue to the IDPs leaving the camps irrespective of their family size.

4. There are no toilets visible. The IDPs are very likely using the adjoining scrub jungle as open toilets and these definitely pose a serious health hazard.

5. There are no visible sources of available water near most shelters.

6. Due to the heavy rains and accompanying winds the re-settled IDPs are living under the most inhuman conditions. There was water inside many shelters and the shelters themselves were surrounded by water.

7. Medical faculties are not available in the vicinity and ready transport is unavailable. The few buses that travel on this route are over-crowded and do not stop for these IDPs.

8. Kilinotchi town is in shambles and has to be almost completely re-built. Only a handful of civilians are in Kilinotchi town.

9. There were no visible signs of NGO presence along the stretch of A9 highway between Vavuniya and Muhamalai.

10. The conditions under which the soldiers in the security posts are living are much better than those of the IDPs. The soldiers are provided with their food , water, transport and health needs by the government in an organized manner.

11. The conditions in which these IDPs are living are heart rending to see.

I refer to Mawatha Silva's comment made on December 29th, 2009 at 6:02 am.

Many tears – some genuine but mostly ‘crocodile’- were shed on the plight of these unfortunate people.

I totally agree with this statement.

When the GOSL was trying to save the innocent Tamil people from the clutches of the Terrorist Group LTTE which was lead by a Lunatic, mentally challenged terrorist by the name Piribaharan, some of the supporters shed crocodile tears saying that the GOSL was killing innocent Tamil people. They are still out there, because they were not even in the vicinity of where the action occurred and were shedding these tears to fulfill a different agenda.

Now let me tell you who actually shed real tears –
1. The people who were trapped in the action zone them selves, who were not allowed to come out to government controlled areas and who were shot at.

2. The relatives of the people who were killed trying to escape.

3. The SL army soldiers, who carried the wounded to safety – we saw zillions of Photographs and footage of Army personnel carrying innocent civilians to safety after being wounded or else because they were old and fragile or very sick.

4. Definitely the female soldier of SL army who helped the Pregnant lady who escaped LTTE deliver her baby inside a bus (on the way to Hospital)

5. The Sri Lankan public – who wanted the innocent civilians saved.

6. Last but not least – the LTTE leaders – because they knew that it was the end !!

1. There are many Sri Lankan Army security posts at approximately 50-100 meter intervals on either side of the highway.

What do you think ?? After eliminating a Terrorist group and land mines still planted all over, do you expect the forces to evacuate the location overnight ?? U seriously are ill if you think so…

2. The IDP shelters are set between these security posts.

Ahh.. Hellooooo ??? Knock Knock !!!

Which part of the idea behind such placement don't you understand ?

3. The IDPs are living in shelters, made of twelve galvanized iron sheets and a sheet of blue water-proof plastic. These galvanized iron and the plastic sheets are provided as a standard free issue to the IDPs leaving the camps irrespective of their family size.,/i>

They lived in Decent houses ha ?? Who forcefully took their house to make bunkers and got them to leave these houses to join a terror group ? GOSL ?? The LTTE is to be blamed for this suffering the people undergo. At least they live peacefully now till their houses are being built with our Tax money !!

4. There are no toilets visible.
I think the Toilet should be a place which respects privacy – so it will be hidden – invisible !

The IDPs are very likely using the adjoining scrub jungle as open toilets and these definitely pose a serious health hazard.
Ok – Jokes aside – I am sure that this is not true – maximum that could be given has been given – obviously you can't expect any party to create a Hilton Villa for the IDP's this soon ha ??

5. There are no visible sources of available water near most shelters. may be after the LTTE blew up a few water reservoirs

Again – No hilton, but best has been done and still continuing to do so.

6. Due to the heavy rains and accompanying winds the re-settled IDPs are living under the most inhuman conditions. There was water inside many shelters and the shelters themselves were surrounded by water.

This is not the first time this accusation has come out – the funny thing is, the one who complain are the ones who are not even in Sri Lanka (keep aside being near a camp) – no such complains are made by IDP's – Why You the Diaspora ??

7. Medical faculties are not available in the vicinity and ready transport is unavailable. The few buses that travel on this route are over-crowded and do not stop for these IDPs.

This is utter rubbish – not only it is available, it is Free Of charge – SL is the one of the very few if not the only country in the world that provide free medicine to public – and for IDP's it's even better.

8. Kilinotchi town is in shambles and has to be almost completely re-built. Only a handful of civilians are in Kilinotchi town.

Who destroyed it ?? GOSL?? Even the government buildings made off our tax money was used and destroyed by your ever loving Fat Bastard. So don't try to reverse the blame – those lies will not work by any means… The good news is that we are re-building it and it's with our Tax money as you don't send any money even to your IDP's you shed croc tears …

9. There were no visible signs of NGO presence along the stretch of A9 highway between Vavuniya and Muhamalai.

U Mean the NGO's that supported the LTTE to build Submarines and Aircraft ?? Not even in your dreams they would be allowed in these areas again.

10. The conditions under which the soldiers in the security posts are living are much better than those of the IDPs. The soldiers are provided with their food , water, transport and health needs by the government in an organized manner.

Our soldiers are so disciplined, they would share their meals with any IDP – and I say this with utmost pride !!

11. The conditions in which these IDPs are living are heart rending to see.

Indeed – I think the only point we both will agree on in this whole thread.

That's why the GOSL is trying to do their best to make it better from them. Their dreams were shattered when the Fat man started his lunacy rampage – now it is up to us to change it – We are doing it – what about you ???

I refer to Mawatha Silva’s comment made on December 29th, 2009 at 6:02 am.

Many tears – some genuine but mostly ‘crocodile’- were shed on the plight of these unfortunate people.

I totally agree with this statement.

When the GOSL was trying to save the innocent Tamil people from the clutches of the Terrorist Group LTTE which was lead by a Lunatic, mentally challenged terrorist by the name Piribaharan, some of the supporters shed crocodile tears saying that the GOSL was killing innocent Tamil people. They are still out there, because they were not even in the vicinity of where the action occurred and were shedding these tears to fulfill a different agenda.

Now let me tell you who actually shed real tears -
1. The people who were trapped in the action zone them selves, who were not allowed to come out to government controlled areas and who were shot at.

2. The relatives of the people who were killed trying to escape.

3. The SL army soldiers, who carried the wounded to safety – we saw zillions of Photographs and footage of Army personnel carrying innocent civilians to safety after being wounded or else because they were old and fragile or very sick.

4. Definitely the female soldier of SL army who helped the Pregnant lady who escaped LTTE deliver her baby inside a bus (on the way to Hospital)

5. The Sri Lankan public – who wanted the innocent civilians saved.

6. Last but not least – the LTTE leaders – because they knew that it was the end !!

1. There are many Sri Lankan Army security posts at approximately 50-100 meter intervals on either side of the highway.

What do you think ?? After eliminating a Terrorist group and land mines still planted all over, do you expect the forces to evacuate the location overnight ?? U seriously are ill if you think so…

2. The IDP shelters are set between these security posts.

Ahh.. Hellooooo ??? Knock Knock !!!

Which part of the idea behind such placement don’t you understand ?

3. The IDPs are living in shelters, made of twelve galvanized iron sheets and a sheet of blue water-proof plastic. These galvanized iron and the plastic sheets are provided as a standard free issue to the IDPs leaving the camps irrespective of their family size.,/i>

They lived in Decent houses ha ?? Who forcefully took their house to make bunkers and got them to leave these houses to join a terror group ? GOSL ?? The LTTE is to be blamed for this suffering the people undergo. At least they live peacefully now till their houses are being built with our Tax money !!

4. There are no toilets visible.
I think the Toilet should be a place which respects privacy – so it will be hidden – invisible !

The IDPs are very likely using the adjoining scrub jungle as open toilets and these definitely pose a serious health hazard.
Ok – Jokes aside – I am sure that this is not true – maximum that could be given has been given – obviously you can’t expect any party to create a Hilton Villa for the IDP’s this soon ha ??

5. There are no visible sources of available water near most shelters. may be after the LTTE blew up a few water reservoirs

Again – No hilton, but best has been done and still continuing to do so.

6. Due to the heavy rains and accompanying winds the re-settled IDPs are living under the most inhuman conditions. There was water inside many shelters and the shelters themselves were surrounded by water.

This is not the first time this accusation has come out – the funny thing is, the one who complain are the ones who are not even in Sri Lanka (keep aside being near a camp) – no such complains are made by IDP’s – Why You the Diaspora ??

7. Medical faculties are not available in the vicinity and ready transport is unavailable. The few buses that travel on this route are over-crowded and do not stop for these IDPs.

This is utter rubbish – not only it is available, it is Free Of charge – SL is the one of the very few if not the only country in the world that provide free medicine to public – and for IDP’s it’s even better.

8. Kilinotchi town is in shambles and has to be almost completely re-built. Only a handful of civilians are in Kilinotchi town.

Who destroyed it ?? GOSL?? Even the government buildings made off our tax money was used and destroyed by your ever loving Fat Bastard. So don’t try to reverse the blame – those lies will not work by any means… The good news is that we are re-building it and it’s with our Tax money as you don’t send any money even to your IDP’s you shed croc tears …

9. There were no visible signs of NGO presence along the stretch of A9 highway between Vavuniya and Muhamalai.

U Mean the NGO’s that supported the LTTE to build Submarines and Aircraft ?? Not even in your dreams they would be allowed in these areas again.

10. The conditions under which the soldiers in the security posts are living are much better than those of the IDPs. The soldiers are provided with their food , water, transport and health needs by the government in an organized manner.

Our soldiers are so disciplined, they would share their meals with any IDP – and I say this with utmost pride !!

11. The conditions in which these IDPs are living are heart rending to see.

Indeed – I think the only point we both will agree on in this whole thread.

That’s why the GOSL is trying to do their best to make it better from them. Their dreams were shattered when the Fat man started his lunacy rampage – now it is up to us to change it – We are doing it – what about you ???

Only the visible violence, suffered by the Sinhalese, ever gets spoken clearly.

The unabating sixty-year structural violence – political and economic discrimination resulting in the deteriorating social fabric of Tamils – doesn't get spoken clearly: the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act and the languishing of thousands of suspects in prisons without trials for years and decades, continuing abduction-murders, absence of investigations into the thousands of abduct-murders of the last few years alone, preventing aid workers from operating in Northeast and harassing and arbitrarily expelling them from the Northeast from helping the suffering:

ICRC was forced to close down offices in the East where IDPs have been dumped in jungles of elephants or just left to shrivel up as punishment for refusing to comply with oppression.
Jaffna is still an open prison and the occupation army continue to wring the residents.

If one wishes to have peace, one would try to stop the injustice first?

Only the visible violence, suffered by the Sinhalese, ever gets spoken clearly.

The unabating sixty-year structural violence – political and economic discrimination resulting in the deteriorating social fabric of Tamils – doesn’t get spoken clearly: the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act and the languishing of thousands of suspects in prisons without trials for years and decades, continuing abduction-murders, absence of investigations into the thousands of abduct-murders of the last few years alone, preventing aid workers from operating in Northeast and harassing and arbitrarily expelling them from the Northeast from helping the suffering:

ICRC was forced to close down offices in the East where IDPs have been dumped in jungles of elephants or just left to shrivel up as punishment for refusing to comply with oppression.
Jaffna is still an open prison and the occupation army continue to wring the residents.

If one wishes to have peace, one would try to stop the injustice first?

First of all Wish all you guys a very happy new year 2010 and may you gain the strengths to do what's right.

Silva – I don't agree with you when you say that "Only the visible violence, suffered by the Sinhalese, ever gets spoken clearly."

I think the whole world is thinking that it is the other way around because the almost all governments of SL tried their best to settle stuff than provide details of how SL as a whole has been effected through out thousands of years.

I am only sad that you guys are living with ancient beliefs and not realizing that the times have changed. We are in the 21st century and this is 2010 A.D. – don't act like you belong to 2010 B.C.

The country is safe enough and mature enough for all to live in peace. Hope you guys realize it sooner than later than harping on a useless past !

First of all Wish all you guys a very happy new year 2010 and may you gain the strengths to do what’s right.

Silva – I don’t agree with you when you say that “Only the visible violence, suffered by the Sinhalese, ever gets spoken clearly.”

I think the whole world is thinking that it is the other way around because the almost all governments of SL tried their best to settle stuff than provide details of how SL as a whole has been effected through out thousands of years.

I am only sad that you guys are living with ancient beliefs and not realizing that the times have changed. We are in the 21st century and this is 2010 A.D. – don’t act like you belong to 2010 B.C.

The country is safe enough and mature enough for all to live in peace. Hope you guys realize it sooner than later than harping on a useless past !

Jim Pappa,
You are mistaken.
Nowadays there is a tendency to gloss over the Sri Lankan Army War Crimes

It is only when there is no JUSTICE nationally that international justice is needed. Mahinda Rajapakse can conduct a domestic credible probe into ALL human rights violations, war crimes, crimes against humanities allegations and find out the truth

At present many of the LTTE atrocities are all being investigated and legal action is being taken. Only atrocities on the govt- army side are not being inquired into. Furthermore they are being denied and arrogantly dismissed on the basis that victors require no justice. It is only such conduct that invites international intervention.

Jim Pappa,
You are mistaken.
Nowadays there is a tendency to gloss over the Sri Lankan Army War Crimes

It is only when there is no JUSTICE nationally that international justice is needed. Mahinda Rajapakse can conduct a domestic credible probe into ALL human rights violations, war crimes, crimes against humanities allegations and find out the truth

At present many of the LTTE atrocities are all being investigated and legal action is being taken. Only atrocities on the govt- army side are not being inquired into. Furthermore they are being denied and arrogantly dismissed on the basis that victors require no justice. It is only such conduct that invites international intervention.

It is only when there is no JUSTICE nationally that international justice is needed. Mahinda Rajapakse can conduct a domestic credible probe into ALL human rights violations, war crimes, crimes against humanities allegations and find out the truth

Don't you have any gratitude towards the fellow for uniting the country and ensuring that the Tamils in the North and East were freed from a Terrorist group ?? How serious are you to think that LTTE was a legitimate entity hat stood for the rights of the Tamils ? If so, do you seriously agree with the LTTE when they killed the Tamils who opposed them ????

At present many of the LTTE atrocities are all being investigated and legal action is being taken. Only atrocities on the govt- army side are not being inquired into. Furthermore they are being denied and arrogantly dismissed on the basis that victors require no justice. It is only such conduct that invites international intervention.

You will see how well the North and east will be developed and how well the Tamils will live within the next 2-3 years. Obviously it cannot happen over night – but you will have to eat your own words by then !! Watch me !

Many comments of yours contain references to supposedly bringing peace and ” freedom and independence” and so on to Sri Lanka, which may traumatize those of us who are tearing are hair out in horror at the way you and other Sri Lankan propagandists have brainwashed much of your fellow Lankans into believing that such has been brought, though in fact such has NOT been brought.

Many comments of yours contain references to supposedly bringing peace and ” freedom and independence” and so on to Sri Lanka, which may traumatize those of us who are tearing are hair out in horror at the way you and other Sri Lankan propagandists have brainwashed much of your fellow Lankans into believing that such has been brought, though in fact such has NOT been brought.

It is only when there is no JUSTICE nationally that international justice is needed. Mahinda Rajapakse can conduct a domestic credible probe into ALL human rights violations, war crimes, crimes against humanities allegations and find out the truth

Don’t you have any gratitude towards the fellow for uniting the country and ensuring that the Tamils in the North and East were freed from a Terrorist group ?? How serious are you to think that LTTE was a legitimate entity hat stood for the rights of the Tamils ? If so, do you seriously agree with the LTTE when they killed the Tamils who opposed them ????

At present many of the LTTE atrocities are all being investigated and legal action is being taken. Only atrocities on the govt- army side are not being inquired into. Furthermore they are being denied and arrogantly dismissed on the basis that victors require no justice. It is only such conduct that invites international intervention.

You will see how well the North and east will be developed and how well the Tamils will live within the next 2-3 years. Obviously it cannot happen over night – but you will have to eat your own words by then !! Watch me !

Many comments of yours contain references to supposedly bringing peace and ” freedom and independence” and so on to Sri Lanka, which may traumatize those of us who are tearing are hair out in horror at the way you and other Sri Lankan propagandists have brainwashed much of your fellow Lankans into believing that such has been brought, though in fact such has NOT been brought.

Many comments of yours contain references to supposedly bringing peace and ” freedom and independence” and so on to Sri Lanka, which may traumatize those of us who are tearing are hair out in horror at the way you and other Sri Lankan propagandists have brainwashed much of your fellow Lankans into believing that such has been brought, though in fact such has NOT been brought.

A group of 12-15, comprised men, women and children, led by the Nadesan and Pulidevan had gone first followed by a second group of 35-40 Tamils at a distance.

They were all unarmed and carrying white flags.

Nadesan and Pulidevan also carried aloft two huge white flags

Nadesan’s Sinhala wife hailing from the Ruhuu also was in the first group to help with Sinhala interpretation if required.

It was past day-break now and the small groups of stragglers with white flags were clearly visible. Soon they were surrounded by Sri Lankan Special Force personnel who took the first group to their officers in the vicinity.

The second group following nearly a hundred yards behind were ordered to remain where they were with white flags held high with both hands.

Nadesan’s group had ony to walk a very short distance to reach the command post.

Nadesan and Pulidevan identified themselves and stated they were surrendering in term of an agreement worked out with President Rajapakse

Upon hearing this the SF officers got Nadesan and Pulidevan to kneel down and began interrogating them.

The others were taken to a side and asked to kneel down.

Even as the “interrogation” was going on some of the SF personnel began uttering threats in Sinhala and started brandishing firearms.

Nadesan’s wife realised that they were planning to shoot both in cold blood and started screaming in Sinhala that they should not kill people who surrendered with white flags.

Suddenly there were bursts of fire. Nadesan and Pulidevan slumped to the ground their bodies riddled with bullets.

As Nadesan’s wife screamed and tried to run to her husband , she too was shot down with a few Sinhalese soldiers shouting that she was a treacherous bitch and prostitute for marrying a “kotiya”(tiger)

When the Ramesh-Ilango led second group of 35-40 following behind saw what was happening they simply started running back.

A Sri Lankan Army gave chase firing on the fleeing men, women and children and commanding them to stop. Many were hit and fell.

Thereafter the Sinhalese Special Forces moved forward and launched an assault on the tiny enclave where the remaining people were staying.

Some of the injured cadres put up a last ditch stand fighting with dwindling ammunition. They were reportedly led by Ramesh and Ilango who died a heroic death facing fearful odds.

Many Tamil men , women and children were shot dead or blown up with grenades by the Sri Lankan soldiers

A group of 12-15, comprised men, women and children, led by the Nadesan and Pulidevan had gone first followed by a second group of 35-40 Tamils at a distance.

They were all unarmed and carrying white flags.

Nadesan and Pulidevan also carried aloft two huge white flags

Nadesan’s Sinhala wife hailing from the Ruhuu also was in the first group to help with Sinhala interpretation if required.

It was past day-break now and the small groups of stragglers with white flags were clearly visible. Soon they were surrounded by Sri Lankan Special Force personnel who took the first group to their officers in the vicinity.

The second group following nearly a hundred yards behind were ordered to remain where they were with white flags held high with both hands.

Nadesan’s group had ony to walk a very short distance to reach the command post.

Nadesan and Pulidevan identified themselves and stated they were surrendering in term of an agreement worked out with President Rajapakse

Upon hearing this the SF officers got Nadesan and Pulidevan to kneel down and began interrogating them.

The others were taken to a side and asked to kneel down.

Even as the “interrogation” was going on some of the SF personnel began uttering threats in Sinhala and started brandishing firearms.

Nadesan’s wife realised that they were planning to shoot both in cold blood and started screaming in Sinhala that they should not kill people who surrendered with white flags.

Suddenly there were bursts of fire. Nadesan and Pulidevan slumped to the ground their bodies riddled with bullets.

As Nadesan’s wife screamed and tried to run to her husband , she too was shot down with a few Sinhalese soldiers shouting that she was a treacherous bitch and prostitute for marrying a “kotiya”(tiger)

When the Ramesh-Ilango led second group of 35-40 following behind saw what was happening they simply started running back.

A Sri Lankan Army gave chase firing on the fleeing men, women and children and commanding them to stop. Many were hit and fell.

Thereafter the Sinhalese Special Forces moved forward and launched an assault on the tiny enclave where the remaining people were staying.

Some of the injured cadres put up a last ditch stand fighting with dwindling ammunition. They were reportedly led by Ramesh and Ilango who died a heroic death facing fearful odds.

Many Tamil men , women and children were shot dead or blown up with grenades by the Sri Lankan soldiers

Many comments of yours contain references to supposedly bringing peace and ” freedom and independence” and so on to Sri Lanka, which may traumatize those of us who are tearing are hair out in horror at the way you and other Sri Lankan propagandists have brainwashed much of your fellow Lankans into believing that such has been brought, though in fact such has NOT been brought.

What about LTTE brainwashing you to believe in all rubbish to the extend of you taking arms against your own people ??????? This same mentality is what's tearing your hairs apart and not the kind hands lend by the government or the majority of the country to you.. Please take our hands and let's march towards a better future… !!

We are serious when we talk about peace !

Krishna !!

Nice Story, since there was no way you would have been there – Didn't try selling the concept to Steven Spielberg ??

I like to take you back to 1992..

Back then, 500 + SL police and Army soldiers were ordered to Surrender to LTTE due to Indian / International pressure. Then President R. Premadasa (a great leader in his own right), trusting the International community and the LTTE's respect for HR laws, ordered this surrender.

What happened ????? All of them were killed by the LTTE brutal forces led by a Mentally challenged maniac.

I wonder where you were or where the AI was at that time ?

Jim MD – Does AI have any kind of report on this incident ? Any action taken way back then ???

Many comments of yours contain references to supposedly bringing peace and ” freedom and independence” and so on to Sri Lanka, which may traumatize those of us who are tearing are hair out in horror at the way you and other Sri Lankan propagandists have brainwashed much of your fellow Lankans into believing that such has been brought, though in fact such has NOT been brought.

What about LTTE brainwashing you to believe in all rubbish to the extend of you taking arms against your own people ??????? This same mentality is what’s tearing your hairs apart and not the kind hands lend by the government or the majority of the country to you.. Please take our hands and let’s march towards a better future… !!

We are serious when we talk about peace !

Krishna !!

Nice Story, since there was no way you would have been there – Didn’t try selling the concept to Steven Spielberg ??

I like to take you back to 1992..

Back then, 500 + SL police and Army soldiers were ordered to Surrender to LTTE due to Indian / International pressure. Then President R. Premadasa (a great leader in his own right), trusting the International community and the LTTE’s respect for HR laws, ordered this surrender.

What happened ????? All of them were killed by the LTTE brutal forces led by a Mentally challenged maniac.

I wonder where you were or where the AI was at that time ?

Jim MD – Does AI have any kind of report on this incident ? Any action taken way back then ???

Here is another article by a well respected Tamil Gentleman by the name Dr. Noel Nadesan.

Now he saw the light well before most of you who post here including the AI. He is in the majority of Tamils – this I know for sure and as a fact, so don’t argue with me on that… The uneducated, mentally challenged minority actually kill these kind of scholars. Click on my name for you to redirect to the article. Exerts are, (Cut and paste – liberty thanks to Rohan )

“As of now Tamils, after the elimination of LTTE, have found a democratic space which was not available when the LTTE was ruling the roost. The Tamils also have come a long way from Vadukoddai Resolution of 1976. After the Vadukoddai Resolution the political wave demanding Tamil Eelam reached a peak. This Resolution changed the political mood and every Tamil was categorized either as an Eelamist or a traitor. Many opponents were seen as collaborators and they were killed. But all that has changed since May 19th of this year. After the end of Tigers in Nanthi Kadal every sensible Tamil realised Eelam is not the solution. Separatism was drowned in Nanthi Kadal. We have to work not only with majority community but also with other communities like the Muslim and up-country Tamils.

The Tamils have to be dynamic partners of a multi-racial Sri Lanka . Tamil politicians will never be able to serve the Tamil people well, if they do not join the mainstream politics. They can retain their political identities but they have no option but to work within the parameters of the mainstream. Race and religion should not be predominant factors in our politics any more. Only the welfare of the people has to be on the top of the political agenda.

International opinion has always been against the division of Sri Lanka . The separatist ideology struggled in vain to go against this opinion. It is also very anachronistic. The post World War II European history reveal that the trend is more for creating regional blocs, giving up earlier divisive politics of nation-states. Merging and finding commonalities, despite ethnic, religious, political and economic differences is the way forward. ASEAN, SAARC, EU, and other regional blocs constitute the big picture though at the micro level there are still some separatist tendencies as seen in Third World countries. The task facing separatists are far greater than the forces joining hands to merge and form regional blocs. Sri Lanka is a good example. The Tamil separatists put in everything they had and lost. There was a genuine sympathy among international community for Tamils after ‘83 riots but Mr Velupillai Prabhakaran squandered the sympathy by killing innocent Sinhala people, Muslim and fellow Tamils.”

What a great Man and a gentleman !!! Bow down to him !! This is what education can do I guess !

Whenever someone refers to the 600 cop surrendees being massacred by the LTTE and try to justify the killing of LTTE surrendees by the state on that count I take delight in pointing out that the man responsible “Col” Karuna is now a minister in the Rajapakse regime.

Piribaharan was mentally challenged not to realise that he could have also had the pardon and sympathy that Col. Karuna got from the government of SL and could have been a minister looking after the well-being of his people. It was the fat one who ordered the killing ha – Krishna ??

We are a group that is willing to forgive and forget as long as you are on our side. But, some of your stupid leaders never realised it.. Sadly !

I would agree with all above points if it is to eliminate a ruthless terrorist organization. There is no use talking to a Mentally challenged fellow several times if he is not willing to come to any kind of settlement – check the good Dr. Noel's report where he has explain the extents the GOSL went to in negotiating peace.

BUT, I do not agree with you when you say that the innocent was murdered by a legitimate government – never it happened. Your innocent could be terrorists, which, in my mind are not innocent. However, I still know that it was not done the way you try to paint it.

What you need to do over time is to come in to agreement with your conscious that the Fat bastard is dead and so are the followers. You also have to realize that the number 1 priority of the GOSL is well being of the people of North – they did it and are doing it for the east – wonderful development – in another year's time, you will not be able to write to this or any column anything wrong about the GOSL – because there will be nothing for you to write about – may be create lies, but, it will not have even 0.01 % of the credibility you gain now.

Here is another article by a well respected Tamil Gentleman by the name Dr. Noel Nadesan.

Now he saw the light well before most of you who post here including the AI. He is in the majority of Tamils – this I know for sure and as a fact, so don’t argue with me on that… The uneducated, mentally challenged minority actually kill these kind of scholars. Click on my name for you to redirect to the article. Exerts are, (Cut and paste – liberty thanks to Rohan )

“As of now Tamils, after the elimination of LTTE, have found a democratic space which was not available when the LTTE was ruling the roost. The Tamils also have come a long way from Vadukoddai Resolution of 1976. After the Vadukoddai Resolution the political wave demanding Tamil Eelam reached a peak. This Resolution changed the political mood and every Tamil was categorized either as an Eelamist or a traitor. Many opponents were seen as collaborators and they were killed. But all that has changed since May 19th of this year. After the end of Tigers in Nanthi Kadal every sensible Tamil realised Eelam is not the solution. Separatism was drowned in Nanthi Kadal. We have to work not only with majority community but also with other communities like the Muslim and up-country Tamils.

The Tamils have to be dynamic partners of a multi-racial Sri Lanka . Tamil politicians will never be able to serve the Tamil people well, if they do not join the mainstream politics. They can retain their political identities but they have no option but to work within the parameters of the mainstream. Race and religion should not be predominant factors in our politics any more. Only the welfare of the people has to be on the top of the political agenda.

International opinion has always been against the division of Sri Lanka . The separatist ideology struggled in vain to go against this opinion. It is also very anachronistic. The post World War II European history reveal that the trend is more for creating regional blocs, giving up earlier divisive politics of nation-states. Merging and finding commonalities, despite ethnic, religious, political and economic differences is the way forward. ASEAN, SAARC, EU, and other regional blocs constitute the big picture though at the micro level there are still some separatist tendencies as seen in Third World countries. The task facing separatists are far greater than the forces joining hands to merge and form regional blocs. Sri Lanka is a good example. The Tamil separatists put in everything they had and lost. There was a genuine sympathy among international community for Tamils after ‘83 riots but Mr Velupillai Prabhakaran squandered the sympathy by killing innocent Sinhala people, Muslim and fellow Tamils.”

What a great Man and a gentleman !!! Bow down to him !! This is what education can do I guess !

Whenever someone refers to the 600 cop surrendees being massacred by the LTTE and try to justify the killing of LTTE surrendees by the state on that count I take delight in pointing out that the man responsible “Col” Karuna is now a minister in the Rajapakse regime.

Piribaharan was mentally challenged not to realise that he could have also had the pardon and sympathy that Col. Karuna got from the government of SL and could have been a minister looking after the well-being of his people. It was the fat one who ordered the killing ha – Krishna ??

We are a group that is willing to forgive and forget as long as you are on our side. But, some of your stupid leaders never realised it.. Sadly !

I would agree with all above points if it is to eliminate a ruthless terrorist organization. There is no use talking to a Mentally challenged fellow several times if he is not willing to come to any kind of settlement – check the good Dr. Noel’s report where he has explain the extents the GOSL went to in negotiating peace.

BUT, I do not agree with you when you say that the innocent was murdered by a legitimate government – never it happened. Your innocent could be terrorists, which, in my mind are not innocent. However, I still know that it was not done the way you try to paint it.

What you need to do over time is to come in to agreement with your conscious that the Fat bastard is dead and so are the followers. You also have to realize that the number 1 priority of the GOSL is well being of the people of North – they did it and are doing it for the east – wonderful development – in another year’s time, you will not be able to write to this or any column anything wrong about the GOSL – because there will be nothing for you to write about – may be create lies, but, it will not have even 0.01 % of the credibility you gain now.

Pappa
Let me make one thing clear: for Tamils interested in their people’s welfare, the apparatus of the state terror in Sri Lanka is so vicious, so inexorable that we can never seriously question the LTTE . There are times Tamils will need to question the LTTE for the sake of the people. But now is not the time for questions like that, when our people are faced with the unrelenting terror of the state.

In response to Jim Pappa's comment of Jan. 3, 11:11 P.M., I believe you're referring to the incident in June 1990 (and not 1992) when the LTTE restarted the war against the Sri Lankan government by surrounding police stations in the east and taking the police officers prisoner. President Premadasa ordered the personnel in the stations to surrender to the LTTE. The Sinhalese and Muslim officers were taken away by the LTTE and never seen again. I think the usual number given is about 600. It's thought that they were all killed by the LTTE and their bodies disposed of in the jungle. AI issued a report on Sri Lanka in 1990, along with a campaign briefing, as part of a worldwide campaign on Sri Lanka in the fall of 1990. I believe (though I'd have to check my files to be certain) that these killings were included in our report and briefing.

I should also mention that in 1990, the AI membership hadn't yet expanded our mandate to include actively campaigning against abuses by nongovernmental entities like the LTTE. That expansion occurred the following year, 1991. But that wouldn't have kept us from describing these killings in our campaign materials during the 1990 campaign.

Pappa
Let me make one thing clear: for Tamils interested in their people’s welfare, the apparatus of the state terror in Sri Lanka is so vicious, so inexorable that we can never seriously question the LTTE . There are times Tamils will need to question the LTTE for the sake of the people. But now is not the time for questions like that, when our people are faced with the unrelenting terror of the state.

Let me make one thing clear: for Tamils interested in their people’s welfare, the apparatus of the state terror in Sri Lanka is so vicious, so inexorable that we can never seriously question the LTTE . There are times Tamils will need to question the LTTE for the sake of the people. But now is not the time for questions like that, when our people are faced with the unrelenting terror of the state.

Machan,

I totally disagree with you.

Mistakes definitely happened in the past from all sides. You cannot single out a Sri Lankan government or a Tamil party or an individual. A leader that rises from a political party usually has his own thought processors brought in to the main stream politics and their lack of foresight effects communities and the nation as a whole. What you and I, the individuals should do is look beyond their tunnel vision due to having their own agenda to fulfill their own dreams, and look at a bigger picture.

This indeed is the time to gather around and ensure that the government won't slip in it's promises to deliver all good things to the nation as a whole. Also the promised tremendous development to the North and the East.

When are you going to stop looking at what ever the government do with a Crooked eye ???? When are you going to give a chance to prove ?? You did the same in 3 other occasions. You did it to Premadasa, Chandrika and then Ranil / Mahinda – the last peace pact and suffered massively in the end. As I said before, there is a limit that one can go to before drawing a line.

In Singhala there is a Saying "Gahanna Gahanna Wandina ekath, Wandinna Wandinnna Gahana Ekath Modayo" – The one who stay numb when getting beaten up and the one who beats up such person – both are fools. To be fair on the GOSL, they did a lot including the pact in 1988 – the Rajiv / JR pact. You could have worked and developed on this which you failed. Chandrika offered 10 years of independent rule – even that did not satisfy the fat idiot. Now, you got to dance to the tune of the GOSL, but still they are willing to give. So take what is given at least now and build on it.

This indeed is the time or you'd be left with nothing. Be wise – don't be like the Fat Mentally Challenged Idiot..

Good to hear from you. For a moment I was wondering whether you had given up on me !!

Anyways, Thanks for the explanation. I sure understand the reason for you not having much written to your HR bible prior to the 1990's as there was no much "Terrorism" that happening prior to that period ? LTTE, the Alquaida's, Hamas, Thaliban all came out strong after 1990's ha ?

Well, I also trust that your HR Bible has been altered over the past years, as time passed by and as situations arises. I am sure that it is not the same clauses that was there in the 50's. Well, now it is time again for you to re-visit the section that says – Dealing with Terrorism…. Why not get America involved too ????

As much as you might have HR clauses on how to act against or for a legitimate government of a country, try having a few practical clauses on how to deal with HR when dealing with illegitimate terrorist arms groups.

In response to Jim Pappa’s comment of Jan. 3, 11:11 P.M., I believe you’re referring to the incident in June 1990 (and not 1992) when the LTTE restarted the war against the Sri Lankan government by surrounding police stations in the east and taking the police officers prisoner. President Premadasa ordered the personnel in the stations to surrender to the LTTE. The Sinhalese and Muslim officers were taken away by the LTTE and never seen again. I think the usual number given is about 600. It’s thought that they were all killed by the LTTE and their bodies disposed of in the jungle. AI issued a report on Sri Lanka in 1990, along with a campaign briefing, as part of a worldwide campaign on Sri Lanka in the fall of 1990. I believe (though I’d have to check my files to be certain) that these killings were included in our report and briefing.

I should also mention that in 1990, the AI membership hadn’t yet expanded our mandate to include actively campaigning against abuses by nongovernmental entities like the LTTE. That expansion occurred the following year, 1991. But that wouldn’t have kept us from describing these killings in our campaign materials during the 1990 campaign.

Let me make one thing clear: for Tamils interested in their people’s welfare, the apparatus of the state terror in Sri Lanka is so vicious, so inexorable that we can never seriously question the LTTE . There are times Tamils will need to question the LTTE for the sake of the people. But now is not the time for questions like that, when our people are faced with the unrelenting terror of the state.

Machan,

I totally disagree with you.

Mistakes definitely happened in the past from all sides. You cannot single out a Sri Lankan government or a Tamil party or an individual. A leader that rises from a political party usually has his own thought processors brought in to the main stream politics and their lack of foresight effects communities and the nation as a whole. What you and I, the individuals should do is look beyond their tunnel vision due to having their own agenda to fulfill their own dreams, and look at a bigger picture.

This indeed is the time to gather around and ensure that the government won’t slip in it’s promises to deliver all good things to the nation as a whole. Also the promised tremendous development to the North and the East.

When are you going to stop looking at what ever the government do with a Crooked eye ???? When are you going to give a chance to prove ?? You did the same in 3 other occasions. You did it to Premadasa, Chandrika and then Ranil / Mahinda – the last peace pact and suffered massively in the end. As I said before, there is a limit that one can go to before drawing a line.

In Singhala there is a Saying “Gahanna Gahanna Wandina ekath, Wandinna Wandinnna Gahana Ekath Modayo” – The one who stay numb when getting beaten up and the one who beats up such person – both are fools. To be fair on the GOSL, they did a lot including the pact in 1988 – the Rajiv / JR pact. You could have worked and developed on this which you failed. Chandrika offered 10 years of independent rule – even that did not satisfy the fat idiot. Now, you got to dance to the tune of the GOSL, but still they are willing to give. So take what is given at least now and build on it.

This indeed is the time or you’d be left with nothing. Be wise – don’t be like the Fat Mentally Challenged Idiot..

Good to hear from you. For a moment I was wondering whether you had given up on me !!

Anyways, Thanks for the explanation. I sure understand the reason for you not having much written to your HR bible prior to the 1990′s as there was no much “Terrorism” that happening prior to that period ? LTTE, the Alquaida’s, Hamas, Thaliban all came out strong after 1990′s ha ?

Well, I also trust that your HR Bible has been altered over the past years, as time passed by and as situations arises. I am sure that it is not the same clauses that was there in the 50′s. Well, now it is time again for you to re-visit the section that says – Dealing with Terrorism…. Why not get America involved too ????

As much as you might have HR clauses on how to act against or for a legitimate government of a country, try having a few practical clauses on how to deal with HR when dealing with illegitimate terrorist arms groups.